The Bet
by MistressWinowyll
Summary: Can the Kurumu's aunt, Shade, seduce Tsukune what only the Vampire, Ria, Moka's sister, could take by force? The Bet made at their reception turns bad. Lord of the Land of Fire and MistressWinowyll joint story. Off shoot of The Mighty Vampire Aono story.
1. Ch1 The Bet

**Greetings. I am Mistress Winowyll.**

**Lord of the Land of Fire-kun and I have started a joint writing project that started off as an exchange between PM's. From those playful tauntings came this story in which he has already posted, but for which I am also sharing his glorious spotlight. We both have enjoyed all the responses so far and can't wait to see how this will end. **

**This tale will include my own OC Shade from my story A Dark Influence, a Naru/Hina story, and his OC Ria from his stories The Mighty Vampire Aono and some of his other stories.**

**It takes place around Lord of the Land of Fire's story "The Mighty Vampire Aono". This is by no means a spoiler for the end, but a sort of diversion for the fun of it. This story is also meant for a very _Mature Audience!_ You have been warned.**

**So, without any further delay, enjoy our story!**

**Your Mistress.**

XXXXXXXXXX

The reception hall was packed. Everyone was dressed up in celebration of the happy union. The wedding had been truly spectacular; the flowers alone had cost 500,000 yen. Little sister's wedding dress was a designer original, one of a kind, and it had cost 12 million yen. The bride's father was flipping the bill and nothing was too good for his little girl.

Ria had taken her place as one of the brides maids besides both her younger sisters. She hadn't wanted to be there anymore than Tsukune and Moka had wanted her there. Truthfully she still wanted to murder them both after what they'd done to her. She was sure both of them would be happy to return the favor. Father though had insisted she be there to play the role of supportive sister.

So she had stood there with Kahlua and Kokoa and smiled pretending to be happy. All the while imagining Moka's head on a pike and Tsukune being slowly roasted over a bon fire.

The wedding had gone off without a hitch; Tsukune was now her brother in law. Not that the ceremony had any real weight with her or her father. For them the _real_ ceremony had taken place months ago in castle Akashiya where they became mates and she was forced to truly acknowledge him her brother. He was now officially, and forever, off limits to her. If she did anything to him her father would be angry and would punish her. Not even her bottomless hunger for revenge equaled her fear of and desire for approval from her father.

So here she was off in that back of the vast reception hall drinking champagne as she watched and listened to the mindless herd of well wishers.

To a human eye there was nothing unusual about the people who were now enjoying themselves. To her though it was easy to tell who was and who wasn't human. Along with her father and sisters about a third of the guests were monsters in disguise. Succubi, snow women, witches, werewolves, cat women, sirens, and all other sorts of creatures mingled and talked freely with humans who had no idea they were in the company of genuine monsters.

It sickened her to be here, to have to treat these filthy humans with actual _courtesy. _What she longed to do was use some vampiric magic or the Lilith Mirror to reveal the truth to everyone. Now _that_ would have been entertaining! But since it would also bring her father's wrath she put the thought out of her mind.

Standing there she noticed Tsukune's father looking at her. Smiling back she slowly licked her lips and placed one hand suggestively underneath her right breast. The man turned red and quickly looked away. She laughed softly, unlike Tsukune his father was a very weak willed man.

Looking about she saw a tall slender woman talking with Kurumu and her mother. Kurumu looked extremely embarrassed for some reason. The other woman caught her looking and sent a questioning glance her way. She had dark sunglasses and a burnt red dress with a bit of gold trim. It revealed breasts that were ample but not huge. The dress only went a third of the way down her thigh also displaying long and shapely legs. There was a black choker around her neck with a silver chain (very similar to Ria's or Moka's.) At the end of the chain was not a rosario but a small gold lock that nestled within the space between her breasts. The lock was deliberately left open. Men all around were staring hungrily at her, even ones with dates or possibly wives standing right there beside them.

The woman might have expected her to look away but Ria did no such thing. She continued to sip her champagne and look directly back at the strange and enticing female. As she watched Kurumu spoke to her frantically while pointing. When she was done explaining the stranger wore a captivating smile and began to sashay her way towards her.

By the time she reached the back where Ria was the patient vampire had caught her scent and knew what sort of monster she was. "A succubus, are you family to Kurumu and her mother?"

The woman gave a slight polite nod. "My name is Caro Shade, I am Ageha's neesan and Kurumu's aunt. I take it from my niece's warning that you are a vampire and Moka's sister?"

Ria bowed her head a few inches. "I am Sekitan Ria, Moka's older sister."

"You have a different last name," Shade noted.

"She and I are half sisters," Ria stated. "We share the same father but have different mothers."

Shade grinned mischievously. "But your last name is not Akashiya, if you have the same father shouldn't it be?"

Ria gave the woman an annoyed look. "That is not your concern." She wasn't about to waste her time explaining the reasons her father had married Moka's mother but not her own. "In any case her last name is not Akashiya anymore either."

The two of them were on the dance floor with all eyes on them. They did make a truly beautiful couple.

Shade was looking at them as well. "My little niece thought he was her destined one, she tried to make him hers and failed. Even her charm failed. For a succubus to lose out on a man she wants is quite a rarity. He's rather interesting, don't you think?" Her lips twitched and her tongue flicked out for just an instant.

"Forget it succubus, you would never have a chance with him," Ria said with certainty and sipped her champagne. She was watching the happy couple dancing. Because there were humans in attendance both of them wore their rosarios and hid what they truly were. For that matter she did as well.

Shade grinned seductively and tossed her long plum colored hair. She slid down her sunglasses to reveal two mismatched eyes, one of sea deep blue and one of purest violet. Together with her full lips and delicate skin she had an exotic, almost unearthly beauty. "Don't compare me to dear Kurumu, I am something else entirely. _No _man can resist me if I want him."

Ria dismissed her with a flick of her hand. "My little brother isn't a man; he's a vampire and a powerful one at that."

"If he has something hanging there between his legs that makes him a man whether he's a vampire a human or a jabberwok." She slid her glasses back up to hide her eyes again. "I'll make him mine with one look."

"Tsukune has the ability to charm," Ria said sweetly. "That makes him immune to your power."

"Really?" Shade peered out to the dance floor. "A vampire who is immune to charm, and one who is already in love? Now that is a challenge." She looked back to Ria with a decisive nod. "I'll make him mine; there are more ways to seduce a man than just with charm. I have other weapons, they may take a little longer but they are more fun to use any way."

Ria shook her head mockingly. "Simple seduction will never work on him."

Shade glanced at her and a leisurely smile spread across her face. "Why? Did he reject you when _you_ tried it?" The vampire's slight frown and tiny spark of killer intent told her all that she needed to know. "I'm not surprised, what would a vampire know about _real _seduction? A succubus is lust incarnate; I can make a man throw away everything for me with just a _look_. If I really focus my attention on him he'll be mine body and soul, for as long as I want him."

"You know nothing," Ria said with a touch of anger. "The only way into his bed is through deception or threat. Seduction is pointless, he's too stubborn and too naive."

Shade gave her a pitying look. "You had to force him to sleep with you? How pathetic."

Ria's grin was cold as winter ice. "If we were anywhere else I would kill you for saying that."

"You would try," Shade answered without worry.

"Oh me, oh my you really think you can make him yours?"

"Easily," the proud succubus answered.

"Then what do you say to a simple bet? They'll be leaving for their honeymoon right after this and it will last for a week, seven days. Do you believe you can get him to betray Moka on their honeymoon?"

Behind her sunglasses her eyes lit up with anticipation. Steal a loving husband away from his bride during the honeymoon? "Oh, now that would be fun!" She titled her head slightly and glanced curiously at the dark haired vampire. "What sort of stakes would you like to bet?"

Ria knew _exactly _what she wanted. "Whoever loses must be the other's willing slave for one day. And must do anything they are ordered to."

Shade's laughter was sweet and light. "Done! I will make him mine by the end of their honeymoon or I will be your slave for a day." She extended her hand.

Ria placed her within and gave a powerful squeeze. She was surprised to be met with equal strength. "Agreed, and if you somehow manage it I will be yours."

The bargain was sealed.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


	2. Ch2 A Dance With Shade

**Flashback**

Shade was riding in the back of Ageha's limo with her little sister and her niece. She hadn't seen either for more than a year so the chance to join them at a wedding had sounded fun. She was idly wondering whether or not to amuse herself at the reception later by stealing away a husband or two and only listening to her niece's conversation with half an ear until something caught her attention.

"Wait! What was that?" She looked over at her niece who was sitting across from her. Little Kurumu was 19 now and full grown, though still a bit short. She was wearing a light blue sundress that was cut short to reveal her impressive G size breasts. Having graduated Youkai Academy she had decided not to bother with college and had begun her career as a succubus.

Kurumu was caught off guard. "What auntie?"

"What was the last thing you said, Mumu-chan?"

"Please don't call me _that_ in front of my friends, Auntie! I never used to say that!" She whined prettily.

As much as the older succubus would love to torture her some more about her childhood name, she pressed on with more important matters.

"Whatever. Now what was that…Something about an appointment?" She twirled her finger at her as if she could rewind what she said with that little motion.

Shade saw her niece turn an embarrassing shade of crimson as she looked down at the floor. She had helped raise little Kurumu since she was a little sprite of a girl who had just sprouted wings and knew all of her guilty faces. This was one of them.

"Ah, yes, that's right." She chuckled apologetically to her aunt. "I have an appointment to be intimate with Tsukune in a couple months. We're going to spend a three day weekend together in Las Vegas."

She frowned and the feathery brow above her azure eye rose sharply. "You mean **he **has an appointment with you don't you? The way you said it it sounds like you had to make an appointment with him."

The girl kept her face down as she went a couple shades darker. "Ah, well… the thing is…"

Ageha knew that look her sister was giving her daughter and it was not going to go well if she let this continue. Things always ended up bad when Shade got this angry. It wouldn't do to have to leave another city because things upset her and got out of hand…again.

Sighing Ageha stepped in. "That **is **how she means it I'm afraid. Kurumu considers Tsukune to be her destined one and wants him to father her children. Unfortunately she was unable to make him accept her as either a wife or mistress. The only way she can be intimate with him is to make an appointment through Moka, Tsukune's vampire mate."

Shade's controlled, but heated exhaled hiss was easy to translate.

_Explain, _it said.

"It's not as strange as it sounds!" Kurumu said desperately. Both she and her mother adored and greatly admired aunt Shade. She was everything a succubus aspired to be and then some. Among her kind, she was revered as a celebrity; an Arch Succubus that reached heights of power and prestige that almost rivaled the strongest creatures…even vampires. It was embarrassing having to admit her failings in front of her so she wanted to show that the relationship she had with Tsukune was 'normal.' "Vampires have a different moral code from humans or other monsters. So long as Moka knows about it and approves she doesn't consider Tsukune to be unfaithful even if he is having sex outside of marriage. It's not just me either; my friends Mizore and Ruby both make appointments with him regularly. Mizore has already had one of his children and is pregnant with another. And my little kid friend Yukari is even scheduled to have a threesome with both of them once she gets a little older!"

Shade spared her an amused grin. "Kurumu dear, do you think I would care whether or not his mate considers him to be unfaithful? Or if it destroyed his relationship?"

Kurumu gave an embarrassed shake of her head. Succubi had their own moral code too.

"What interests me is the fact _you_ couldn't get a male you wanted. And he is your _destined one_?" She shook her own head in disbelief. "How could you **not **have him? Didn't you use your charm ability?"

"Of course I did auntie!" Kurumu said defensively. "But… but he wouldn't betray Moka. I tried everything I could think of but he really does love her." She shrugged helplessly. "I'm just glad to at least be able to have him to myself from time to time."

"Hmmm," She decided to leave it at that. Kurumu was still young, but from all signs she seemed quite capable in the arts of seduction. She certainly had the necessary tools. _I wonder what sort of man this Tsukune is? Maybe this will be more interesting than I thought._

XXXXXXXXXX

Shade thought of all that as she sought both Moka and Tsukune out. _No time like the present to begin winning this little wager. _She stood by the edge of the dance floor and waited patiently. Winning a man's heart was very much like winning a battle. If you happened to have overwhelming weaponry, as she certainly did, most of the time the target stood no chance. On those very rare occasions when the opposition was actually a challenge you needed patience. If you rushed in blindly you would get smashed. Just as in battle the first prerequisite to victory was to gather intelligence. She wanted to talk to Tsukune alone and form an impression of him.

She remained patiently waiting as he and his bride shared several dances together. A number of men approached her offering to dance with her, to buy her a drink, or even hinting about sneaking off somewhere. She turned them all down without making any of them feel as though they'd been turned down. At last a pale skinned girl with violet hair and a lollipop in her mouth approached them. She was dressed in a silver yukata and Shade was able to pick up a slight swell at her belly. This had to be the snow girl little Kurumu was friends with, Mizore was it? The girl spoke softly and the bride nodded. She planted a gentle kiss on the snowgirl's cheek before leaving the dance floor. Tsukune happily extended his arms and began to dance with her.

Timing it just right, she removed her sunglasses and tucked them in the sash at her hip as she approached them just as the music ended to the song.

"Pardon me," she said in a warm cheerful voice. "I hope you don't mind, but I am Kurumu's aunt Shade. I have heard so much about you. Would you mind?"

The snow girl gave her a half hidden look of suspicion. She clearly did mind.

"Is it okay Mizore-chan?" Tsukune asked kindly.

Shade did not miss him asking her permission like he obviously did with his wife. There was more to this pattern then what she was told. She needed to know more.

Mizore looked at him and gave a slight nod. "Of course it is Tsukune–kun, but you have to promise to have at least one more dance with me before you leave."

He nodded easily. "It's a promise Mizore-chan."

"Congratulations, by the way." The succubus tapped at her own flat stomach to reference Mizore's small bump. "You look absolutely beautiful." Shade complimented with a slight gush of jealousy that made the fair skinned girl blush.

She shifted the lolli in her mouth to one side and then the other, eventually releasing the father of her children with her permission after another once over to the very lovely girl patiently waiting for her to leave.

She gave him a quick kiss on his cheek before walking past Shade. The succubus saw the questioning and possessive look in the snow girl's eyes. It was a look the succubus had seen many, many times before. The girl went over to where the bride seemed to be having a discussion with a fourteen year old girl.

"But why can't I join you on your honeymoon? Desu!" The little girl said a bit too loudly drawing shocked looks and causing the bride to blush furiously. The snow girl calmly smacked her in the back of her head and told her to be quiet.

As the music began Shade placed both hands on his shoulders as he placed both of his lightly on her generous hips and trim waist. This was not the time to be provocative so she did nothing out of the ordinary as they began to dance. "How old is that girl?" Shade asked curiously, shifting her gaze to the cropped haired girl with pretty purple eyes.

Looking a bit uncomfortable he answered. "Fourteen but there's nothing going on between us! We are just good friends!"

She laughed softly, absently moving her fingers a little closer to the curve of his neck. "I believe you," she said. "My little Mumu-chan has told me about her, Yukari, I think, and her bold desires. She wants to have a threesome with you and your wife I believe?"

Before Tsukune could answer, he chuckled at the cute name, "Mumu-chan?"

"Yes, that's our Kurumu's childhood name when she first started talking…uhm, at about a year and a half old. I watched over her while my sister worked." She reminisced amicably, her eyes roll at the endearing and playful memory.

"We tried to get her to say Kurumu, but she would not stop saying 'Mumu' for several years," Shade chuckled into her fingers, her bright mismatched eyes alight with mirth. "If you call her that now I can promise you she'll adamantly deny that she used to say that."

They shared an easy laugh before Shade tilted her head at Tsukune, enjoying the brief, almost uncomfortable silence as they moved together as if they'd been dancing together for years. He was really impressed with how quickly she picked up his pace and rhythm, because all his friends knew he was a terrible dancer with someone he had not had practiced with.

She matched his steps easily and looked incredible doing it. After her hair floated back down after a bold spin, she pushed herself just a hands breadth closer. Moving a lock of her hair that had covered his face with a shake of her head, she found she was able to wrap one arm around the back of his neck while looking up at him.

"A threesome, hmm? That is a very naughty idea, Tsukune-san. Delightfully naughty," She teased, but not suggestively. She made it seem more like a silly joke to be enjoyed.

"Er, well, yeah," he admitted. Despite being a vampire and having had a great deal of experience Tsukune was feeling a bit uncomfortable being so close with such a stunning woman. Even though the ambient light was subdued, he could see her enigmatic mismatched eyes were beautiful. As for her figure… well, he thought Moka's inner self more attractive, but by taste more than proportion. Her dress was thin he could feel her muscles move at her generous hip and waist. After training with Inner Moka, he knew you could tell a lot about a person by how they moved and that experience made him swallow uncomfortably. He instantly realized that she moved like a master musician artfully playing an instrument. He didn't have to remember hearing from many of his talks with Kurumu that women associated how a man danced to sex, and vice versa. If there was any truth to that belief, well Shade…well…Shade really, really knew how to…

He suddenly put more distance between them again, his face flushed at his private thought. He didn't want to take any chance of there being a misunderstanding; he _did _know a little something about succubi after all. He also knew Kurumu knew how to dance and if her aunt was this much better at dancing then Kurumu-chan…

"I can see why Kurumu likes you so much." She said warmly, after she noticed he blushed again at something she could only figure with a knowing smirk.

"Eh?" He swallowed nervously.

She dusted off a fleck of lint from his shoulder. "You're absolutely adorable. It's a shame you're not going to be part of our family. I do hope you and our little Mumu-chan can still be close friends though."

"I'm sure we will," he replied confidently, happily. "I want to stay good friends with all the people I am close too."

She smiled at him warmly. "I wanted to tell you thank you in advanced."

"Pardon?"

"For letting my little Mumu-chan have your children." She explained. "That's very generous."

"Oh, uh… I actually didn't really agree to that. Moka-chan is the one who allowed it. She said that since I'm a vampire now, we live under a different moral code."

"Are you against it?" Shade asked as they continued to dance. Eyes followed them as they moved gracefully among the other couples. She noted with interest that while many were men that had watched her there were also female admirers looking at him. "Being with other women I mean. My experience is that no matter what a man says he usually only refrains out of fear of being caught, not because he actually opposes it."

"Well… no, not really, but I do feel like it might hurt Moka-chan," he admitted timidly. "And I would never hurt her."

"I see." Shade smirked, now she knew exactly what she needed to. "Would you mind introducing me to your lovely wife? Mumu-chan is still a little heartbroken about your not choosing her; after all she's saved your life so many, many times…along with all your other friends of course. Ruby-dono, Mizore-chan, and Yukari-chan. Am I right?"

Gulping, he nodded.

"Now that you're a vampire, though, you plan on protecting them, yes?"

He looked at her and nodded firmly. "That's right; I'll always protect the people I care about, no matter what."

_This is his strength, protecting and caring for his friends, _Shade decided. _But it's also a weakness._

As the song ended Tsukune was removing his hands from her, obviously intending to go.

She slyly took his hands and placed them back on her hips, pressing his fingers a little harder against the lush flesh under her thin fabric dress. She felt his rushed exhale, his nervousness under her own hands. "Could I have just one more dance with you? Please?"

_Why does she make me so anxious? _He wondered. He slowly nodded and left his hands where they were.

Appearing content Shade also returned her hands to his shoulders. As the music began again she deliberately moved just a bit closer to him. Not enough for their bodies to touch, but just enough to feel a tad more… intimate. As they danced she talked to him about Kurumu and what she had been like as a little girl. She wanted him to relax around her and not feel as though she were especially interested in him. It slowly worked as she saw him loosen up and begin to enjoy himself a bit more.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Yukari you are **not **coming with us and that's final," Moka told her in a heated whisper.

"But… mmmph!"

"Let's go for a walk," Mizore told her and began to half lead half drag the little witch outside.

"Yukari giving you trouble?" Gin approached her. As always he had a dazzling smile and was filled with an easy charm.

Moka sighed. "Not really, she just has a little trouble taking 'no' for an answer sometimes." She gave him a knowing look. "You would understand that."

He chuckled. "You're not still mad at me about that whole little misunderstanding we had way back when we first met?"

"You mean when you framed Tsukune for peeking on the girl's locker room and then tried to make me your woman by force?" Moka asked dryly.

"Heh, it sounds so bad when you say it that way."

A light smile touched her lips. "Of course not, you helped save his life more than once and we both consider you a close friend."

"In that case can I have a dance with the bride?"

She nodded. "Sure."

"Great!" That was when Gin made the horrific mistake of placing his hand on Moka's butt.

WHAM!

Gin found himself on the floor looking up as a very upset Moka with her hand on her rosario. "You _do _know I've had the enchantment on my seal changed and I can remove this on my own?"

He made a show of glancing at his watch. "Will you look at the time? I really should be taking some more photos for the wedding album. Oh, by the way…that's a very cute shade of white."

She realized a little too late he had a great view up her dress.

"Eek!"

Flash! He snapped off a quick picture with his camera and dashed off before she could throttle him.

She watched him go feeling a little heated; Gin was a good guy… most of the time. But he really had trouble seeing the line when it came to women. That was when she looked back to the dance floor. Mizore had told her that the woman with Tsukune was Kurumu's aunt. She couldn't help but notice that her darling husband was smiling and looking to be enjoying his dance with Shade, she also noted that they were dancing rather close.

_Succubus_, Moka thought. Even if Mizore hadn't told her she would have known by her scent.

_**Not just a succubus, **_her inner self spoke to her through the rosario.

_What do you mean? _Her outer self questioned.

_**I'm not sure, **_the voice in her head admitted. _**But there's much more to her than a simple human disguise. It's well hidden but there is something more than just an ordinary succubus's power.**_

_I'll keep that in mind, _she thought. Since the song was winding down she went out onto the dance floor.

XXXXXXXXXX

Sensing Moka's approach Shade turned to her and smiled graciously, "What a lucky girl you are to have such a handsome and polite husband. You are Aono Moka-san, yes?"

Moka couldn't help but feel a little silly about being suspicious after such a warm greeting, but was still cautious. Her inner self was never wrong about these things and she _was_ one of Kurumu's relatives. She was sure Kurumu had no bad intentions towards her, but how would her family see things?

"Thank you, that's very kind." She reached out to take Tsukune's hand.

Shade intercepted it and boldy placed her other hand on Moka's hip, much to both her and Tsukune's surprise. "May I steal a dance with the bride?"

Moka could feel the surprised faces turning in her direction. "Ah, this… this isn't considered normal for a human wedding reception."

"Just one dance, I'm sure no one will be upset," she teased, turning her eyes to a few men who already gasped at the display of two very lovely and very outstandingly developed women about to dance together so closely. "A few of them may even take some pictures." As the music began Shade pulled her along without permission and the two of them began to dance.

Tsukune stood there and watched, unable to do anything but gawk.

Moka was feeling more than a little awkward. "What are you doing? People are staring!"

Shade wanted to laugh, she loved attention. The chance to do something a little challenging to the norm was always appealing. "I want to give your husband and you a gift, a very special gift that will last a life time and hold endless potential and pleasure for both of."

"Okay…" Moka replied carefully. Giving the bridal couple a gift was standard custom.

Shade leaned her mouth to Moka's ear and glanced over to where Ria was watching the spectacle. Ria could guess what was coming, asking for Moka's permission to be with her husband. That was something she would have never considered. _It won't work though, _Ria thought with certainty. _Moka might agree to it but not during the honeymoon. _Ria would never do such a thing; her pride would never stand it. She suspected the succubus would never stoop to asking permission either; this had to be some sort of deception or trick.

As smart as she was in games of chess and strategy, this was an area that was unfamiliar to her. She had to know how that woman's mind worked and she knew she had to get her fingers into this game.

Shade was playing for keeps.

"I want to teach your husband the techniques of the arch succubus and how to feel comfortable being with other women." She expected the surprised look on the young bride and continued to turn the pretty pink haired girl in a different direction, just a little further away from inquisitive ears.

"He loves you so much, but he's afraid he's going to hurt you," She pouted her bottom lip at Moka before she could object. It was written all over her face that she had not really taken his overly nervous and sometimes flighty complaints as something that could harm their relationship. The jade eyed vampire decided to listen a little more then she had originally intended. "The poor thing, I think it would also help his mind, his heart, and his manly pleasure to not only learn the things I, one of the highest ranking mistresses of the succubus seduction arts, can teach him about how to please a woman, and how to please you too of course," She gave Moka a little wink, "I could teach him how to feel comfortable making love to another woman in front of you."

Despite the promise to Yukari _that _had never occurred to her. "I don't know…"

Shade saw Moka start to nibble on her lip nervously, so she decided to explore another avenue while the girl was distracted.

"And what about you, Moka-san? Have you ever made love to a woman?"

Moka turned beet red and looked away.

Shade's eyes brightened and she licked her lips. "How utterly delightful," she cooed in Moka's ear. "You _must_ let me help you with that as well. I will help you build up your own self confidence in ways you can't imagine. I can teach you how to read your lover, be it your husband, your friends…" she suddenly put her arm around Moka's back and pulled her close, gentling mashing her breasts against Moka's, rolling in an all too familiar gyration she saw Kurumu did to Tsukune with a much more expert tilt. Moka gasped, but then felt the tickled slide of Shade's fingers crawl from Moka's hip to her side. The succubus's breath exhaled hotly against her neck. "…Me."

Moka's eyes refocused from the unexpected electricity that her womanly parts were experiencing, the unexpected softness of this alluring woman's body against her own, almost debilitating her with those very simple but exciting touches. She saw someone who wanted to dominate her, to teach her, mold her…become a part of her.

"Your Tsukune already has three other lovers, Moka-san…and you only have him." She said quietly, but not in accusation. "With my instruction, I could teach not only you, but all your friends that you touch, that you enjoy such pleasurable and erotic moments with into something you all can enjoy and teach to your precious people. His lovers will become yours in a mastered joy that will last a lifetime." She said with anticipated delight.

Moka looked ready to refuse, but Shade pressed on giving her no such chance.

"Please don't deny yourself this opportunity. You deserve this." She traced a finger along the curve of Moka's neck, letting the feel of a mistress of pleasure, of lust, of a woman's gentle, soft touch caress her so mildly, so intimately. She couldn't deny that it felt remarkably different then how Tsukune touch with his rough, strong fingers.

The music came to an end and so did their dance. Shade released her hold on Moka but left her other hand there on the nape of her neck, drawing small circles with her perfectly manicured nails.

Moka slid away from her, her eyes wide and nervous. "I will eventually be with a woman," Moka replied softly, backing away further from Shade's touch. She felt overwhelmed by someone who could turn her on so easily, so knowingly. She couldn't help but feel like a she was facing her own father in terms of power.

The thought scared her just as much.

"But it will be with my friends. We will learn together and I think that may be best."

Shade gave her a knowing smirk, and then looked over her pretty face as if committing the small details of her eyes, her nose, her lips, her chin all to memory.

"Give me five minutes with you," She asked, stepping forward and leaning her forehead against Moka's, forcing the young woman to look in her hypnotic eyes.

"Why do you want this so much?" Moka asked almost fearfully, a little nervous around such an aggressive woman.

Shade took Moka's hand into her own, lacing their fingers together. "I'm doing this for Mumu-chan. If you and Tsukune are going to enjoy my niece, then I think it would be best for you and Tsukune to teach her what I'm about to teach you both. I can't teach her directly, it would be too embarrassing for her."

Shade stuck her tongue out playfully, earning a slight giggle from Moka.

_Would it be so bad? _Moka wondered.

_**Careful!**_ Inner Moka's voice rang through her head. _**Things are never as simple as they seem!**_

As Moka considered that she noticed Ria standing there on the edge of the dance floor, looking on intently. But her eyes seemed to be more on Shade than herself.

Instantly suspicious she backed away eying Shade with real worry. "Did Ria put you up to this? Are you trying to hurt Tsukune and I?"

_Damn it! _She hadn't planned on Moka noticing Ria's presence in any of this. She grabbed Moka by the hand and tried to calm her fears. But it was obvious she was uncomfortable now.

"It's nothing so harmful, Moka-san, please listen…"

"No! I don't want to hear anymore." She pulled her hand free. "Now if you'll excuse me." Moka walked away, sending Ria an angry look before disappearing into the crowd of well wishers.

Shade watched her go, fuming silently at the very close completion of her task. She eventually found Tsukune chatting with an attractive dark haired woman with her hair in two tails. After a brief exchange, Moka headed off in the direction of the ladies room.

Ria approached Shade from behind with her heels clicking loudly against the ballroom floor, watching the happy bride disappear from sight.

"Oh me, oh my, that didn't seem to go so well, did it?"

Shade didn't say a word, preferring instead to takes in all of Tsukune's female friends pouting and mooning over him now that Moka was out of sight. Kurumu even had pounced, pressing him to her bosom like always.

"I thought the bet was to seduce Tsukune, not my little imouto," Ria pointed out as she grabbed a fresh glass of champagne from a passing waiter. "Were the terms unclear?"

"I'm studying my prey." Shade answered dismissively.

A sudden ruckus ensued as Yukari had returned and was now on Kurumu's back pulling at her at her hair trying to help Tsukune breathe. Shade rested her hands on the taunt fabric of her very round and generous hips, her posture considerate.

"I was thinking of using you to entertain my goblins." Ria continued, airing her thoughts. "They work so hard and I really could care less about their needs as men. I'm sure you could serve a purpose with them, but _please_ make sure to bathe afterwards. I want you sleeping at my feet like a good dog and would hate to endure that stench."

Shade turned on her stiletto'd heel and returned Ria's amused look with one of her own.

"Do you really think I've already lost?"

"Oh me, oh my why would I ever think that? She did just push you away after just hearing my name. Do you think she'll trust you now that _you_ and_I_ are involved together?"

"Then you wouldn't mind us making this bet a little more interesting, would you?" She offered challengingly.

Ria's grin was dangerous. "What do you have in mind?"

"Him," She pointed towards the young man with a camera, getting scolded by Ruby for trying to take pictures under the tables to get panty shots.

"Hmm," Ria purred, appraising the handsome young pervert. "His name is Gin, a former classmate of theirs. He is a werewolf, handsome, strong, and very unenlightened in the ways of women. What about him?"

"If I don't have Moka introducing me to Tsukune in a positive light within the next five minutes, he gets to take pictures of the looser having sex with him." She pointed to a very large (obese) bodied boy with a creepy smile who was drooling as he stared at Yukari.

Ria lifted one of her eyebrows. "Oh me, oh my you must be very sure of yourself." Ria chuckled into her fingers, clearly amused by the succubus's arrogance. "You would really allow yourself to be put through '_that_'? Succubi must no pride at all."

"How the hell does pride have _anything_ to do with lust?" Shade lectured with a patronizing tone. "If a succubus finds her destined one he becomes a part of her life one way or another through any means necessary. _Any. Means. Necessary."_ The succubus called off each word with her voice rising a little bit each time.

"What is pride when you find and keep your destined one utterly, blissfully, sexually satisfied?"

Noticing Ria was stil looking at Shade as if she was more annoying then saying anything worth while, she returned her blank stare with an mocking one of her own.

"Besides, if you already know I'm going to lose, then this should just be amusing for you to watch, yes? Now, the question is, are _you_ afraid to agree to this if you're so sure you're going to win?"

Ria was about to answer when she considered the confidence of the woman next to her. Such disregard was entertaining to witness when she knew she was going to win, but when they shook hands there was an undeniable strength in her that matched her own. Ria didn't become her father's protector by having bad judgment, but this was something else entirely. She had put her pride on the line and if there was anything she despised with all her black heart it was being made a fool of.

Shaking her head, she huffed. "Fine, I'll go sit near Tsukune and prepare to wait for Moka to come introduce you in some way as a gift." She produced a watch and tapped it meaningfully. "Five minutes beginning now, if I don't see her telling Tsukune how wonderful you are by then I'm getting camera boy and lollicon freak there for a little show in the laundry room."

"Done."

Shade took a step towards the ladies room but Ria's firm grip on an arm stopped her fast, "If you fail, please feel free to run away as quickly as possible. I'd enjoy hunting you down like vermin."

Her grin was not borne of fear; Ria couldn't smell a trace of it on her. In fact the scent coming off Sade was excitement. "Don't tease me, wait your turn."

Taking Ria's hand off her arm with surprising ease, she kissed the vampires knuckles, winked, and sauntered off one hip at a time towards her little sister's refuge.

_Well, one way or another, this should be entertaining. _Ria thought and approached Tsukune and his little harem. She couldn't help but rub her gloved hand where Shade had kissed her. She was really starting to enjoy this little game.

XXXXXXXXXX

Moka was just finishing up doing her hair when she heard…

CLICK.

She turned around to find Shade leaning against the door, her fingers still on the lock. She removed her sunglasses and slid them into her small purse. With a startled gasp, Moka started to yell, but Shade appeared in front of her like some demonic spirit, her eyes glowing hypnotically. She couldn't yell, she couldn't fight…she couldn't even move. The only thing she could do was stand there, feel, and breathe.

Shade prowled slowly to Moka's immobilized form and leaned in close. "I am going to get my five minutes from you, starting now."


	3. Ch3 Five Minutes

**Five Minutes**

**AN: There is going to be a part of this chapter that may have some people confused as to what is going on. It' is in reference to Lord of the Land of Fire's Story 'The Mighty Vampire Aono.' It pretty much starts on chapter 9: The oldest Sister. This is where Ria is introduced. Chapter 12: A Wicked Woman and Chapter 13: A Woman Scorned is where Ria makes her first move on Tsukune with interesting results. The scene where Tsukune is sent by Moka to protect his family and self sacrifices a lot of his himself is Chapter 20: What Ria wants and Chapter 21: Ria gets. **

**I highly suggest to read the whole story if you haven't already. Incredible work from our Lord of the Land of Fire and a great read. **

**If you are reading this story first before The Might Vampire Aono, then I would highly suggest reading, at a minimum, Chapter 20 and 21 of his story. You'll be able to absorb this chapter and the next much easier.**

**Your Mistress.**

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**Before Shade came into the bathroom to confront Moka...**

Moka pulled a brush through her pink locks as she huffed in annoyance at Kurumu's aunt's antics. Seriously, were all succubus pushy, touchy, in your private space and relationship freaks? Grumbling, she tilted her head and saw she still looked very nice and hoped she wouldn't need to do this again till...well...tomorrow morning.

She blushed prettily as she thought of tonight.

Tsukune and Moka had been lovers for several years now and each time it had been several levels of good to great. Each time was nothing short of a reaffirming their love for one another in different ways and she was always spellbound by the simple majesty of it, the pure soul quenching release of some, if not all, of her worries.

But, there was still that dull ache in the back of her mind, the one where they had tried to make love and it ended so badly...the one where everything went wrong and some questions were left unanswered.

**That's not true**, Inner Moka answered in her firm voice. **They were answered. We just decided there's not much we can do about it, so why let it linger?**

Outter Moka bit her lip, but decided to put on her best smile and push that memory where it belonged. Tsukune was her husband now for hundreds and hundreds of untold years and then some. They'll work it out in their own way. Besides, they still loved each other after that night and what could prove stronger then surviving that?

Moka felt emboldened by that and smiled. She allowed herself enough strength to look into the mirror and wonder what else could she do with her Tsukune that Shade could possibly teach her. Yes, she was still young by many standards, but she and Tsukune were great together as it was. She even allowed him to be with their friends for the sole purpose of offering them his seed, to give them his babies.

What could be more generous then that?

They were all good girls in their own way and now she was sharing Tsukune's life with him. What guy wouldn't be happy with that predicament? And if they offered a little more in the bedroom then she offered her Tsukune, well, she was sure she'd take it into consideration.

Of course, that Shade really did seem to know her way around women...

Moka put her hands on her cheeks, feeling them warm a little to quickly.

...and if she was right about teaching her things that she could have her Tsukune learn and then share them with her and her friends...would it be so bad? It's not like Tsukune's not with other women and this one was older, more experienced. She is asking permission and Kurumu seems to think the world of her...Maybe...perhaps...

**Don't forget Ria's scent on her**, Inner Moka growled, quickly stamping down that idea. **Who is to say this isn't another one of her traps that they are playing in tandem? It's not above our sister to do something so devious on our Wedding Day.**

Agreeing with a sigh, she put her brush away and closed her purse when she heard the door open and the ominous sound of it lock.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Shade had just locked the door to the ladies room and hypnotized her, leaving her only the ability to breathe, feel, and be aware. Her heels clicked on the tile and echoed in the room like some herald of doom.

"I want you to know," Shade began, her hands resting on her hips as she approached the pink haired bride, "If I wanted, I could have you do anything I want willingly with this level of charm. I am not at Kurumu's rank, but much, much higher. I am only doing this because I want you to know," she traced her fingers over Moka's unmoving shoulders, "I just wanted you to listen."

Moka turned her eyes to Shade, helplessly worried and scared.

"But you will accept much more then my words," she said, resting her hip on the counter of the marble countertop.

"Sit on this, dear." She tapped the marble with her nails.

Against her own will, her body complied with a simple hop. Her knees bent and legs crossed at the ankle, she sat primly even hypnotized.

She rolled herself closer to Moka, pressing her breasts against her arm, "Lift your skirt, sweetheart. I want to see what you're going to give your handsome husband tonight."

A whimpered breath came out in complaint, but her hands did as she was instructed. She reached low to the hem of her skirt and lifted it high past her bottom, shimming to get it bunched up at her back. Pure white, lacy panties were attached to an equally white garter belt with a waist piece.

"How pretty," she purred in Moka's ear, dragging her tongue along the lobe. "You look good enough to eat."

Moka whimpered through her nose, a small and scared delicate sound. She wanted to scream for Tsukune to come rescue her, but this tiny sound was all she could manage.

Shade traced her fingernails up Moka's stockings, rolling them right above her knee. With her other hand, she moved the long beautiful pink hair away from her neck and placed a lip parted wet kiss.

It was just a kiss, but Moka's reacted with a trembled whine.

"Oh my, that little kiss did tickle you, didn't it?" Shade chuckled deeply into the crook of her neck. "You are delightfully sensitive, hmm?"

Moka's lips trembled, but could do nothing more then huff.

"How about here," she kissed right behind her ear. "And here," she traced her tongue along the shell of her ear, nipping it with her teeth. Her fingers pulled lightly at her knee.

"Open your legs, my pet. I want to know how you will have yourself seen by your gentle husband."

Moka was panting and blinking fast, obviously hating how easily her own body was overpowering her own conscious will.

Legs indecently opened, she leaned back and arched her chest upwards. Her blouse was stretched taunt over her sizeable breasts to near bursting at the buttons.

"Now that is a positively _beautiful_ sight for Tsukune-kun, isn't it?" Shade licked her lips and walked away from the counter to take her place between Moka's outstretched legs. "Lucky Tsukune," she moaned placing one hand on each knee forcing her legs even wider apart.

Leaning forward to slide her breasts against Moka's, the young bride gave a small whine of complaint. "From the next thirty seconds," She glanced briefly at her watch, "I want you to treat me as if I were Tsukune and this was your wedding night."

Her eyes widened but her body moved of its own volition. Moka leaned forward and shyly touched Shade's face with an endearing affection. Her hands smoothed her dress down a little, but the gentle smile on her lips just asked for patience till she felt comfortable within herself. She wrapped her arms around Shade and kissed her lightly, enjoying a slow and tender kiss that made her blush.

Shade's ran her fingers up Moka's spine, making the girl tremble. She returned Moka's kiss with a little more passion, a little more slide of her tongue against Moka's. For the whole thirty seconds, it was little more than polite kissing and gentle explorations. _What a sweet and tender girl, Tsukune really is a lucky one._

Looking at her watch, Shade pulled herself away from Moka and voiced darkly, "Now, I just want you to stay like this, and don't fight me, however I want you to think of that time when Ria had your Tsukune and what he had to be feeling that night."

Moka's expression was that of utter horror, if she could have covered her mouth she would have.

Shade lowered her dress at her shoulders, exposing her perfectly round breasts with flawlessly glowing skin, light pink but thick nipples. The succubus's face hovered between Moka's legs and pulled her pretty panties aside, exposing her trim pink mound.

In a sultry whisper, she said. "Remember everything you feel."

The plum haired beauty opened her lips and licked. Moka was now in tears, her body trembled as Shade mouthed her pussy. Lewd wet licks, heated, breathy moans, and purring could be heard from the small space between the sealed vampires legs. Shade's whole body moved with her head, her hair rippled about her as she gave every moment of concentration to Moka. The young bride's body flushed, her eyes were even rolling in their sockets and her legs were trembling to the growing feel of her climax.

Shade lifted her wet stained mouth from Moka's pussy and eagerly rubbed her nipples up and down the thin slit and over her clit. "You hate this, but your body is responding to it, isn't it? Do you think it was the same for Tsukune when he was with your sister?"

Her pants were coming quickly, the muscles in her legs were trembling with their strain and her body was rising in temperature.

"Kurumu told me what happened," She rolled her breasts against Moka's womanhood with growing pressure. "She told me Tsukune confided with her about the night you made him go with Ria to protect his family and him. That was very brave and I sincerely applaud your sacrifice, but do you really know how much that night hurt him?"

The ever growing liquid staining Shade's breasts and the wracked trembling of her legs announced her climax. Shade rolled her gentle fingers inside of Moka, cooing softly at her still worried face, "I made you do this, react like this, but you hated every moment of it, hmm? For Tsukune, do you think it was much different then what you felt now? Over and over again, he was subjected to this many times and against his will, he was not left unscarred by it. He has lost his confidence and I can see in you…"

She removed herself from Moka's legs and fixed her panties and her skirt for her, "…that there very well may be evidence that Ria ruined him for you. I'm sure there are times when he is with you that you are unsure if you will ever be able to keep up to the standard he was exposed to with a woman who has more than two centuries more experience. I know my Kurumu-chan has told me, in secret mind you, that he asks her to do things with him that he won't do with you because he is afraid that he will hurt you. Do I even have to tell you where he learned these things? Do I even have to say her name?"

Shade picked up a towel and wiped her breasts of Moka's feminine fluids and then worked to clean up the young bride. Moka's look of horror was still growing by the second. Tears were falling from her eyes and travelling down her cheek and off her chin.

Snapping her fingers, Shade released the charm.

Moka gasped and fell off the counter onto the floor. She looked at Shade with incredulity, her free hand gripping the rosario at her chest with trembling fingers. Her instinct was to unleash her full power and tear this foul woman to pieces. The only thing that stopped was the fact she was at her own wedding reception surrounded by human guests.

The unapologetic, but sympathetic look Shade gave her was eerie.

"I have been raped before, Moka, and let me tell you it is something you never truly recover from. For women, it's bad, but for men it's even worse. We have clinics, studies, support groups and other women to share our feelings for, but what do men have? Where can they go? Where can _he _go? To you?" She shook her head sadly.

Shade stood over Moka, her gaze compassionate, but also accusing. "What's more, how does he complain about something like this when the person he loves told him to do this in the first place?"

Moka flinched at her as if she had just been slapped. "I had to."

"I know," Shade agreed. "You were doing it to protect him and it was the right choice. I'm not saying you were wrong, but if you have any doubts if **I'm** wrong, then tell me this. Why is he still so afraid to be with other women? Do you think even after all this he is comfortable being with them after you've made a 'habit' of issuing him out to your friends against his will?"

"That… that's not fair!" Moka couldn't stop the tears from falling again. There was just too much soul piercing truth to her words.

"You can only fix a broken vase so much, but it will never have the same beauty no matter how well you glue the pieces back together. But… if you're careful enough and patient enough, with the right hand, you can get it to hold water again."

Moka was quiet as she wiped her eyes, everything she remembered about that day she sent Tsukune off with Ria had been just as painful as it had been then.

"I wasn't talking to Ria to help her, Moka-chan; I am here to beat her. I let her know I'm going to weed out everything she did to your Tsukune and you. This is the last time I'll ask you. Please consider this carefully. If you don't tell Tsukune as soon as you leave here, I'll consider that a 'No' and I'll never bother you again unless you seek me out. Good night, Aono Moka."

Shade walked back to the door and unlocked it with a click. Opening it for her, Moka dashed out past shade without saying anything to her. She knew exactly where she was going and what she was going to say.

"I need to fix my hair for this. I want to look my best," Shade said lazily, returning to the mirror for a once over.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


	4. Ch4 A Painful Memory

A Painful Memory

When Moka dashed out the door of the ladies room she inhaled deeply to try and compose herself.

Shade wasn't on her heels trying to pull her back in and have her way with her again. Right now, she almost wished she was back in the restroom to make sure she looked presentable, but she was not going back there.

The young pink haired girl turned her head this way and that, trying to refocus herself enough to remember where she sat and where her Tsukune was. Taking one step and then another, she quietly cursed her trembling hands and arms as well as the sensations of movement of her underwear was causing her still sensitive womanhood. Her breath still was uneven after being treated like that.

_Why me?_ She asked herself.

Spotting Tsukune in the middle of another bout between Yukari and Kurumu, she aimed herself towards him as fast as she could, so happy to see his gentle face and know he would hold her close and say he love her. That's all she needed right now, someone to tell her they loved her. Everything would be better... anything would be better, but she couldn't get Kurumu's aunt's words out of her head...

_Was she right?_

**Does it matter? Look at what she did to us!** Inner Moka roared in her head.

Tsukune was once again trying to play peacemaker between their friends, he still looked uncomfortable with their shameless devotion to and love for him. He scratched his neck, shied away and blushed. He was truly adorable, but then when was he ever not? Looking just a little bit closer as she dodged a few more well wishers and shared a brief hug and kiss with some of his family, she realized he was not just uncomfortable, he was near panicked.

There really was something wrong with him.

_Will there ever be any safe haven for us? _Moka almost wept. She was a vampire and he was now one as well. They and their friends had so many different and dangerous enemies... would they ever really be safe?

How many times had Moka been put in these situations? How many times had she felt this weak, this helpless? Too many to count. The universe was being incredibly unfair to her.

Even given all the hardships and dangers she had faced at Youkai her most vivid and painful experiences were when she was in her father's home and as she finished middle school.

She could still recall how the kids in class would tease her for their own reasons, out of jealousy or simple cruel amusement. She always stood out. She was always a little too pretty, a little too smart, a little too shy to ever really fit in. Children could be surprisingly cruel; they never seemed to have any qualms about hurting her. They mocked her when she told them monsters were real, teased her about being so quiet and meek, they even made fun of her when she answered the teacher's questions right every time. They went out of their way to make her feel like a freak, to make sure she couldn't just be normal. She was always hurt by their taunts, by their cruel pranks, and by their seemingly inescapable ability to demean everything good she was able to find mingling with humans.

But none of them had ever been as cruel as Ria.

Ria was the worst. During the hardest part of middle school her sister had encouraged her relationship with humans. At least at first. She'd asked for forgiveness of her mean spirited ways before and offered to help bridge the gap between her and her classmates. She'd had infinitely more experience dealing with their kind and gave her advice on how to be more popular. It had even worked for a few months, Moka truly started to enjoy her time living with a race as fickle as humans.

Her fourteenth birthday was close to the end of the school year, and the few friends she had made were invited to celebrate both, at Ria's suggestion of course.

Moka had been so happy.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**Flashback**

They'd had a large rented house in the human city where she was attending school. It was almost a mansion, though not a tenth the size of Castle Akashiya. No expense was spared to show her small group of friends how much she appreciated them… especially one particular boy. He was a sweet quiet young man on whom she had a huge crush.

Ria took special care to make sure Moka looked particularly pretty that day. Personally assisting her with her hair and then helping her pick out a lovely summer dress and petite coat, knee high socks and cute opened toed heels.

Moka couldn't believe how lovely she looked with her onee-sama's help. Even as she played with her hair and had Ria help put on a few accessories for her, her mind went back to the boy she had invited.

Little Moka prayed that he would want to hold her hand, maybe let her lean on his arm and, even, quite possibly… perhaps, if she was really nice to him, and he saw how special he was to her… a small kiss on the cheek.

She told this to Ria, trusting in the bonds that they had built and that had never been there before. Her dark older sister had listened patiently, returning her enthusiastic squeal with a light chuckle… and wishing her luck.

Moka gripped Ria in a tight hug, voicing in a small, trembling voice that promised to shed a tear or two, "Thank you, onee-sama. You're the best sister ever!"

Ria hugged her back lightly, combing the pink tresses of hair from her little imouto's pretty face. "Oh me, oh my, Moka-dear, you shouldn't cry, not today. This is a very special day for you. Get your friends into the patio out back. The caterers should be finishing up as we speak. I'll make sure of it. Go, go…" She shooed Moka away in her best big sister voice after a kiss on the cheek.

Moka dashed off happily in a streamer of pink hair and heels tapping against the marble tile.

It was the starting point for one of the most vivid memories in her life.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Everything had gone off perfectly.

There was an assortment of food of every kind and some amazing tricks done by acrobats and magicians, a small play was created by comedians. This was the start of what could have been the happiest day of her young life. It became even more so when the boy she liked had offered her his hand and she gladly accepted it.

He had told her over and over again that he thought she looked really pretty and was glad to be there with her. Even her inner voice had been lulled by the boy's sincere remarks and had decided to keep her mulling over how weak and pathetic humans could be to a minimum. Inner Moka wanted to enjoy this day as well and wouldn't ruin it with her usual pessimism.

Moka had never felt so happy, so warm, and so treasured then at that moment. She could not turn away from how he looked at her. She could sense her own warmth reaching out to him and breaking through his teenage insecurities. She could see him struggling to let her know how he felt. He was so bad at it that it made her feel all that much more special to know he was struggling just for her.

"Oh me, oh my you two look so cute together," Ria had called out from behind them, earning a feverish blush from both teens.

Her arms were crossed over her black and silver trimmed formal dress that covered her tightly from neck to ankle and left nothing to the imagination. The shape of her large full breasts was especially clear.

The boy stared at Ria and dropped Moka's hand as if he was embarrassed to be caught touching her. His eyes stayed on Ria, his gaze on Moka was nothing like the way he'd been looking at her. Ria was flawlessly gorgeous, immaculately accentuated by the aloof dignity of her posture.

She was a woman in every sense of the word.

While he had said Moka was pretty and he was glad to be there with her, he was now utterly speechless and his eyes were stupidly glued to Ria's body.

That was the moment when what should have been a wonderful day began to turn into something else. What should have been one of Moka's most treasured memories was being twisted into something else.

Ria reached over and closed his mouth with the tip of a gloved finger, exhaling an amused chuckle. "Now, now, don't mind me. I'm just here to make sure everything is okay."

She took stately steps away towards the entrance back into the mansion. Moka's date turned his head to shamelessly gawk at the great view he had of Ria's ass. Moka gripped his arm and turned him away to look at her, the beginning of tears pooled at the corner of her eyes.

"Moka dear, we won't have any of that today, now will we?" Ria chided her young imouto with a wag of her finger.

"B-but…he's…" Moka began, only to be interrupted by Ria.

"Tsk, Tsk. Let me take care of him for you, Moka-chan. I promise after today you will never have this problem again."

Ria turned scolding eyes towards the boy and crooked her finger at him. "Come with me, young man. You and I are going to have a little talk about how to be around my little sister."

Back bent in defeat, he turned to Moka and offered a guilty apology that was sincere, but eventually slouched away with Ria back into the house. Ria winked at her and closed the door.

That was the last time Moka ever saw Ria as a good person.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Young Moka had two plates of food in her hands as she went throughout the mansion looking for Ria and her date, weaving from one room to the next. The weirdest sounds caught her attention along with the odd scent of something unfamiliar.

Inner Moka even commented it sounded like two people fighting… and it was coming from her own room!

Worried, Moka kicked the slightly ajar door with her foot, only to see something that wracked her to her very core.

Her date, the boy she had started to feel a great attachment to and care for was fucking her older sister on the very bed she had dreamed of the the very boy on top of her.

Little Moka had known Ria to be cruel and monstrously unfeeling at times, but she had shown so many signs of changing that Moka had honestly believed she was having an effect on her one-sama… but… but this?

She couldn't even pretend that Ria was forcing him, either. Ria's hands were around his neck; her dress pulled down and bunched up about her waist. Her dark stocking legs and garter belt wrapped around his back as he repeatedly, willingly, eagerly, pushed himself inside her sister.

Moka could hear the constant sound of his panting and of their bodies smacking together again and again and again… He was crying out her name deliriously as though she were his only joy, doing all he could to please her. The bed squeaked with each thrust, causing Ria's huge exposed breasts to jiggle and bounce.

She cooed his name, encouraging him with filthy, dirty words. Then Moka heard something that hurt her worst of all, something she would never forget or forgive..

"Tell me you want me more than my little sister." Ria said to him as he pounded away at her. "Tell me you would drop her in a second if you could have me."

"I would," he grunted, earning a tight squeeze of her thighs around him as a reward, "You're a thousand times better then Moka! I would do anything for you! I would kill her for you if you wanted!"

Hearing the boy she cared for say that Moka couldn't even move, couldn't even breathe. From somewhere far away she heard the plates she'd been carrying break on the floor.

She watched him dive his parted lips down onto Ria's mouth and excitedly kiss her, exploring her mouth with his tongue as she return his kiss with equal fervor. They were so involved, he was so consumed that he didn't even see her there, and when he finally did…

He looked through her as if he didn't care in the least.

All her strength left her then and she fell onto her knees. Her heart pierced so deeply she couldn't even find the ability to cry. _Why?! Why is she doing this to me?! _She wanted to howl. Wanted to scream and demand an answer.

"Why would you do this to me?" It came out as a pathetic whimper. She sounded like anything but the daughter of an elder vampire and Lord of Hades.

She had meant that to be for Ria, but he answered instead.

"This is Ria," he looked over at Moka without regret, "She's just too beautiful, she just feels so amazing. What man could deny her after she's touched him?" He said that without missing a stroke, without even slowing down.

Moka tried to find the strength to get up, to get away, but when the boy and her sister reached a mutual orgasm she fell back down. _Now _the tears came, hot against her face.

Ria stroked the boy's hair as he rested his head between her large breasts, then turned her chocolate eyes to Moka with the coldest, most triumphant look and said, "I think it's safe to ask him about that kiss now, Moka-dear."

Moka's anguished cry had not gone unnoticed. Ria had not anticipated Lord Akashiya's arrival to surprise his daughter for her birthday. He had never been to any of Ria's birthday parties after all.

When he came upon the wailing Moka and saw the despicable position of Ria and the young boy, he coolly crossed his arms and said, "Don't you think this is pushing cruelty a little far, Ria?"

Ria threw the boy off her so hard he broke his back slamming into the wall, paralyzing him from the neck down. He was out cold after a brief cry of pain.

"Lord Akashiya," she fixed herself quickly and bowed down to him, eyes lowered in complete deference.

"Daddy! She…she…" Moka crawled up her father's expensive pant leg and hugged him with all her might, weeping uncontrollably.

Ria had looked at her disbelieving eyes with such utter contempt and hatred that it was stifling.

"Oh me, oh my, I don't remember you ever attending one of my birthday parties, Lord Akashiya, and I've had well over two hundred of them." Ria's tone held some heat, but it was still tempered by respect. _Even now! Even now! He favors her! _She clamped down on her jealousy and hate. There were limits to what she could get away with.

Moka continued to sob dejectedly into her father's chest for a few minutes; he stood there with unusual patience and allowed her to. As she calmed down a bit she noticed something, though father did not want her to feel pain, he was not at all mad at Ria. In fact, he was looking at Ria as if he had just caught her sparring with her younger sister too roughly and was mildly annoyed.

"Moka," he said patiently, making her look up at him with the same eyes her mother had, those same sad and heartbroken eyes. "We are not humans. We don't allow ourselves to feel this attachment to them, because, as you have just seen, they are not deserving of such. They are weak, they are easily manipulated, and they will always betray you in the end. While I don't approve of your sister doing this to you," Ria paled at her Lord father's scowling. "I will not punish her for it."

"F-father?"

He pushed her away from him to arm's length, making sure she could see his look of displeasure. "We are vampires and we **_are_** cruel. Your sister has it in abundance and while this may be a lesson you should try to learn it.. You knew her nature and yet you made yourself vulnerable. You hoped to change her, expecting her to become something she is not and your sister used it against you. If anything, the blame falls on you for being so trusting."

Moka saw her sister flash her a grin.

"But…she hurt me…" Moka stuttered. How could father blame _her _for this? What had she done wrong?

Her rosario had an answer. **"You trusted Ria."**

Her father continued trying to explain. "If you had tried to change me into something I was not I would also hurt you just to show you your place."

He gingerly touched the rosario at her neck.

"This is not just a seal for your power and personality, but for your ability to see reason, Moka. Do you wish for me to destroy it now so you won't feel this kind of pain again?" His voice was kind and held a rare warmth. "It would be easier to accept what we truly are. In the end we are vampires. There is no place in our hearts for those who are beneath us."

Moka jumped away from him as if his touch burned.

"NO!" She screamed at him.

He was not affected by her rude outburst, but Ria openly hissed at her, "Watch your tone, you pathetic weakling!"

"Let her talk, Ria," Their father placed a hand on Ria's arm to get her to stand. She accepted, but kept her scowl in check when he quickly stepped away from her to look at the boy crumpled against the wall.

"For these past few months," Moka began, rubbing at her eyes with her hands, "I was happier then I have ever been in my whole life! I…I have friends; I have people who care about me in ways that have nothing to do with being powerful, rich, or being an Akashiya! We were joined by being nice to each other, having fun together, learning together and sharing our lives together! I still have other friends!"

Lord Akashiya exhaled in frustration. "Those friendships are nothing but a pleasing illusion Moka. What good are these ties when they are all based on a lie? You can only hold on to these friends of yours so long as you hide your true nature. How will they feel, these precious friends, when they realize that you are not one of them? What happens when they learn you are in fact a vampire?"

"I-I don't…know…" She admitted.

"I said I would also hurt you to make you understand your place. You need to see how futile it is to try and be friends with humans!" He growled, finally growing tired of this ridiculous argument. Moka's mother was just as stubborn about these things. "I do this out of my love for you, daughter. You will see your friends for what they truly are. See what their hearts feel about the **real** you. Know your place!"

He snatched the Rosario from her chest and released the powerful Youkai energy suppressed within her.

"Father, no!" Her cry had not been in the voice of her outer self, but of her inner. Her unleashed power enveloped everything, saturating the senses of all the humans nearby. The natural instinct was to flee, and some did. But some came inside the mansion to see if they could find their friend who they were sure was somehow in trouble.

Ria laughed as their footsteps could be heard racing down the hall towards her room. "Oh me, oh my, this is wonderful!" Ria gripped Moka's date in her arms and walked down the hall where some of her friends could be heard looking for her. They turned around the bend just as Ria pulled off her rosario and become a horrifying vampire with inch and a half long fangs and demonic red eyes. Laughing loudly at their terror, she dug into the boy's neck, coating his clothes and hers in blood.

They screamed in fear, turning and running into Kahlua. The blond haired second eldest sister had appeared when she had felt her little sister's power flow from her.

"Oh, I want to play too!" She unleashed her rosario and started to pull some of the girls into her room, but they fought in a blind panic to get away from her and this house.

Fresh screams could be heard as Kahlua danced around them in childish glee, blood red eyes glowing and fangs laughing at their terror.

"Don't run away! You're going to make me cry!" Kahlua wailed, her arms becoming the shapes of three razor sharp bat wings set to cut into the children, but right when they were about to connect they were halted by Lord Akashiya instead, using his body to absorb the impact.. Three deep cuts ran down the side of his body, but he didn't even seem to care. Seeing what she had done Kahlua shrieked in fear, but he quickly knocked her out with a back hand across her tanned face.

He began to chant an eerie spell, one that caused the young teens to calm and then look at him without fear. Their faces held ready obedience.

"You will forget everything that has happened here and you will forget Moka! Leave, all of you, and never come back to this house or bother my daughter ever again! Know your filthy place, humans!" He roared, finishing his spell all the children vanished, teleported away. The crippled and bleeding boy appeared outside a hospital, the apparent victim of a hit and run. The children all had different memories of the past few hours. None of them involved a birthday party for a pink haired girl named Moka.

How could they? None of them knew a person like that.

Moka never went back to that school again. She did not return to live with her father or sisters. Instead, she chose to look for her mother and, in her memory, keep the rosario on as her mother had wanted.

Of all the things she learned that day, three lessons stood out.

First, vampires were not the only cruel creatures in the world. Humans could be just as awful; they had it in them to be as heartless as any monster.

Second, she could not trust her family, they were vampires through and through and enjoyed their games far too much, especially Ria.

Last, if she ever fell in love again she would never let her boyfriend get within a hundred miles of her oldest sister.

Unfortunately, she was not able to follow those lessons. It was only a couple of years later that Ria had threatened Tsukune by promising to reveal his family's human identity to her father.

Moka knew that if Ria's sole purpose had been to hurt her, she would have already done so. When asked what she wanted, Ria had said she wanted to share Tsukune with her and that had been the scariest demand Moka had ever heard in her life. Tsukune had been adamantly against it; he would rather face Ria's cruel tactics then do anything to hurt her so deeply.

Ria had already tried to seduce him several times and had failed miserably. She'd even found out that the _only _reason he refused was that she wasn't Moka. Ria had taken that as the deepest possible insult and had sworn to have him no matter what.

Moka knew that above anything and everything, she could _NOT_ lose Tsukune. It was too much to risk his family getting involved with her father. He was the worst thing that could happen to Tsukune.

No, it would be much easier and safer to allow Tsukune do this. She knew Ria wasn't going to hurt him much, maybe poke at his pride, try and turn his desires to her instead, but she had to permit it. What was any of that if it would protect her precious Tsukune's life and his families'? So she had stood there silently as she watched him leave with her.

There was no doubt that the sex would be incredible, willing or unwilling. Moka told herself that if Tsukune came back and wanted to leave her because he now had feelings for Ria, she would understand and move on in another country somewhere. He hadn't, though. He came back and the first thing he said was that he was sorry and begged for her forgiveness.

She asked him to shower and come to bed. He was saturated in pheromones and in _her _scent. Moka knew Ria wouldn't let him take a shower there…she WANTED Moka to know what they were doing. It was obvious from the scrapes, bites, claw marks, burns, and rope burns, hand cuff chafings that Ria had gone all out. It was obvious he had ejaculated many times over and was as exhausted as could be.

He sat there listlessly in the tub, his hands covering his head as the water slowly grew lukewarm around his body. She watched him weep with grief at what he had done. She walked into the bath with him, her pajamas still on and helped him clean himself. When they went to bed, they tried to make love and it was absolutely horrible.. He couldn't get erect no matter what she did. The old memories of her middle school boyfriend came back to her in a rush.

Tsukune said he was just very tired and he didn't feel very good at the moment, but he wanted to hold her very close and she had agreed. They held each other close, sharing each other's pain, absorbing each other's warmth and love.

"Tsukune," She whispered in a trembling voice.

"Yes, Moka-chan?"

"Did you enjoy it?" She asked brokenly, her hands trembling around his back. Even if he hated it, some part of her wanted to know there were times he did feel good.

"I didn't want to do it, Moka-chan! I swear, I told her to stop many times. I begged her, I tried to think of different things so I couldn't, and I was unable to stop her. I'm really, really sorry."

That had made her feel a little better. He wasn't lying and she knew it had to have been extremely hard for him to do it with Ria. She knew that it would have been the same for him if she had to endure letting someone else have their way with her.

But she couldn't help notice he hadn't answered her question.

"But was it good?" She had not meant to ask, but the words came out before she could stop them.

He was silent for the longest time and it was more than answer enough. He could only look back at her apologetically.

_Of course it was, _she thought weakly. _How could it not be?_

"Was she better than me?" Moka asked in a frail voice.

He looked her straight in the eye. "I love you Moka. I love **you** Moka, not her, **never** her."

He wasn't lying. She knew that immediately. "I love you too Tsukune."

They shared a warm loving kiss. In its own way this was a much better sign than having sex would have been. Ria might have done all sorts of vile things to him. But she would _never _be able to kiss him like this.

That should have been enough to calm all her fears. That should have let them drift peacefully away to sleep. It should have been.

"But was she better?" Moka hated herself for asking that yet again but she couldn't seem to help it.

"I'm very tired, Moka-chan." He said, pulling her so close to him she could not look into his eyes to see how much that question hurt him, and so he would not be able to see the look of utter pain in hers.

_Of course she was_, they both thought silently.

Neither one of them were able to sleep that night.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Tsukune!" Moka wailed as she threw herself into his arms.

"Whoa! Moka-chan. What's wrong? Why do you smell like... What happened to you?" Tsukune couldn't keep a fierce look from his face as he held her close. His eyes scanned the hall for the 'other' scent that was on her. Along with the undeniable feminine musk that was Moka's own personal sexual scent was that of the elder succubus that he had just danced with only minutes ago.

"Oh me, oh my, Moka dear, Is everything alright?" Ria appeared from behind Mizore and Ruby holding a glass of wine.

She seemed particularly interested in Moka's distress, playing the role of concerned older sister. There was no doubt she could interpret the meaning Moka's and Shade's scents mixed and smothered on top of each other. Whatever Shade had done to her in that brief time had certainly had an effect. Moka's body was still trembling in fear and euphoria, her eyes were still partially dilated and she didnty seem capable of anything beyond crying on her husband's shoulder.

Noticing Ria's interest Moka thought about the last things Shade told her and could not deny that this could be a chance to help her Tsukune and herself. Maybe they could finally cut out the poison Ria had left on both their hearts.

"Yes, Onee-sama," Moka smoothed her hair out and calmed herself as she faced Ria and everyone else. "Everything is fine, but I wanted to tell Tsukune about a certain gift that was brought to my attention."

"Oh?" Ria raised her feathery black eyebrow and decided to put the glass of wine to her lips. She did not want Moka to see her curiosity.

"A gift? Are you sure?" Tsukune had his doubts. There was more going on here then just wedding presents.

"Yes, Tsukune," she kissed him and made a little sound of disappointment when he didn't kiss her back right away.

"I'm sorry, but what are you trying to tell me, Moka-chan?" He asked her.

"Shade has offered to teach us both how to become better lovers, that's her gift. She's a master of the succubus art of seduction and has taken a really strong liking to you. What do you think, Tsukune?" She couldn't help feeling a little embarrassed talking about it so openly.

"Yahoo! Yahoohoo!" Kurumu began to dance and bounce around in a hyper little circle that drew more men's attention; some even began to drool at the positively outrageous display of her 'girls' jiggling. "My Auntie is the best and she's going to teach Tsukune and Moka! We're all going to be taught by the best! Yahoo!"

"Desu! I hope she's not a floppy breasted cow… like jug girl here. She needs to be smart and open minded like Moka-chan and Tsukune-kun! Desu! Desu!" Yukari glomped onto Moka and began to shamelessly grip her breasts with a lewd grin on her small face

Mizore bonked Yukari into a heap with her fist. "Maybe she can help suggest some positions for pregnant women. This will be very interesting. I also wish to learn from her."

Ruby clenched her fists at her chin and cheered. "S&M! Role-play! Domination and Submission! Dungeon outfits and leather!" Again more men stared, with a few eager to get her phone number and hourly rates. Seeing Tsukune and Moka staring at her the witch calmed herself. "I would also like to talk to Shade-sensei about this as well." She blushed slightly, but not without looking up into her mind about the endless possibilities that this new person could offer.

"I just want to be there to take a few pictures and... well... if anyone needs to have someone to practice with, I'm your man!" Gin took a few pictures of the bouncing Kurumu, but was drowned out by the clicking and whirring the other men, some of the married, using their cameras for the same purpose.

Gin was smacked in the back of the head by Kurumu, which he didn't mind at all when it made him fall face first onto the floor. Her dress was so short and he could see.... everything.

"They're pink today." Click, whir.

"Hey!!" Kurumu shouted furiously.

"Heh...heh..." The werewolf got up and ran before she could beat on him.

Ria still had her wine glass in her hand as she coolly watched Moka and Tsukune talk more about inviting Shade to their honeymoon for 'lessons'. Roughly shoving the pregnant Mizore out of the way, she looked at Moka and asked her with one of her most heated but emotionless mask, "So you ARE taking her with you on your honeymoon?"

Seeing such a violent reaction in her cruel and jealous sister made Moka feel all the better about Shade and her decision. "Yes, as soon as we finish up here we'll ask Shade to join us."

"Join you where, Moka-san?" Shade appeared with a refreshed look on her face that spoke of an undeniable confidence that put Ria's eyebrows to dip low at the bridge of her nose.

"I accept," Moka announced, bowing respectfully tot eh succubus. "Please allow Tsukune and I to have your company for a day or so. We would greatly appreciate your instruction."

"We would?" Tsukune asked nervously, still not completely convinced that Moka was alright with whatever encounter Shade and her had. She'd been in tears just a minute ago, what _exactly_ happened in the bathroom?

"Yes," Moka turned a cheery smile to him.

"Is that okay, Tsukune?" Shade played with the seam of her dress at her thighs, taking in his nervous posture with amusement.

"If that's what you want, Moka-chan, then it's fine." He turned to Shade and bowed to her. "Please join us for a few days, Shade-sama."

Turning her haughty gaze from Moka and Tsukune, she speared Ria with it and said. "Please, there is no need to call me 'sama'. Sempai will do."

Grabbing Gin by the back of his shirt so hard he was sure to get whiplash, Ria dragged him to his feet and growled, "Come with me."

Stumbling up to his feet she began to drag him along. "What the hell?! I was taking some very good-"

"You're going to take pictures of me fucking," she hissed angrily, ignoring the surprised and comical turn of his lips.

"Really? With who?" He couldn't help but hope that he was part of those pictures now.

"Him," she threw her glass of wine in the face of the fat pig that was still ogling Yukari, causing him to blubber and whine in guilt, as if she could read what was on his mind.

"You're...kidding..." Gin was too stunned to say anymore, but when she grabbed the protesting pervert in the middle of his speech about him thinking she was eighteen, she slapped him hard enough for him to fall on his face.

"You're coming this way and you're going to fuck me. Now get up off your fat ass and move it!" In a furious hiss. Ria stormed down to the laundry room in a flurry of raven black hair without looking behind to see if they were following her.

The guy looked at her back as if he wasn't sure what to think. "Is she serious?" He asked Gin.

"I don't know," Gin admitted, "but even after being slapped, I would rather be in your shoes then mine." _Everyione has their own tastes I guess. I wonder if she'd want me if I put on fifty pounds and started to drool a lot._

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Shade watched Ria march off down the hall with Gin and the lollicon pervert in tow. She knew if she wasn't there to watch it from start to finish there could be potential for her to wiggle out of their little bet. She just _couldn't _have that.

"I hope you'll both excuse..." She politely started to depart, but it really didn't matter.

No one was paying attention anymore.

Kurumu was so blissfully happy that she had smothered Moka into her suffocating embrace.

The pink haired bride was squealing in her attempts to get away. Mizore was trying to get Yukari to help out, but she was complaining to Tsukune about not being invited.

Ruby was on the side cheering about the chaos of it all.

Seeing the confusion she'd helped cause Shade started to laugh. Kurumu's friends were just too cute. Now, to see about how Ria was going to handle fulfilling her side of the bet.

"This is just too delicious," she sauntered off down the hall way that clearly marked the directions to the Laundry Room.


	5. Ch5 Uncomfortable Moments

Ria lay on a cheap folding table as silent and uninterested as a piece of furniture. Her skirt had been pulled up and her black panties removed and neatly folded next to her. As she usually did she had on black stocking and a garter belt. Her legs were in the air, knees bent, her black heels jerked in time with the heavy breathing and grunts from the pervert as he slammed into her again and again. From the ragged sounds and the desperate way he was squeezing her thighs she could sense he was approaching his climax. A line of saliva dribbled from his chin down to her belly, the smell of sweat of sex and of dirty laundry was thick in the air.

Click, whir…

She said nothing as Gin took another one of his pictures chronicling her humiliation. The idiot kept muttering about what amazing artful pictures they'd be and how he couldn't wait to add them to his collection…

Click, whir…

She said nothing. Whether she was enjoying this or was disgusted by it no one could possibly guess. From her expression anyone would guess she was simply bored with it. She was looking at the ceiling and calmly waiting for the end. Just a handful of feet away she heard the incessant clicking of the camera.

Click, whir…

"You know if you don't like him I'd be glad to take his place!" The perverted werewolf called out from behind his camera, focusing and then snapping another couple photos.

"I'm sorry dear," Shade said teasingly next to him, and gestured with a flick of her fingers. "But for this situation I'm afraid our fat friend here is just the right man for the job."

Shade paced about at the edges of the scene playing out in front of her, her hands rubbed up and down her arms. She wasn't disgusted with it as much as she was intrigued. As an arch succubus she had more respect for the dark and fearsome vampiress then she was willing to admit. She knew that most women of her pedigree, would consider themselves well above this sort of thing. Allowing someone so disgusting and so grossly beneath them to do this… most would prefer to be killed on the spot.

Click, whir…

But this wasn't just any woman, she was the daughter of an Elder Vampire, a Lord of Hades and of Monsters. This was the feared and seductive Sakitan Ria, right hand to the Lord Akashiya, and second in power of vampires through several worlds and dimensions.

Click, whir...

Ria was calmly staring up at the ceiling. Waiting placidly, accepting it but refusing to acknowledge any of them.

The succubus's heels clicked on the floor, the slow sound getting closer and closer towards the edge of the table, as far away from the noisily grunting animal between Ria's legs.

"Comfy?" Shade inquired, lifting Ria's head a little, careful to keep her hair in place, and tucked a small roll of towels under her.

Click, whir...

Hovering close, Shade placed her hands on either side of Ria's head and looked down at her face, forcing herself into the vampire's line of sight. Keeping her gaze on Ria's, she received a calm expression. They said nothing to one another, just stared as one received the punishment and the other openly appraised. Shade ran her fingers through Ria's thick raven locks; as if to sooth the painful sentence she was forced to endure.

With an expert ear Shade listened to the panting, wheezing, grunting of their fat pervert and knew he was reaching the limit of his narrow endurance. _Your torment is coming to its end, _she thought with a surprising amount of empathy.

Click, whir…

Still… Ria remained unmoving, apparently bored by this trial. She accepted it, taking it without a whimper or word of complaint. She was proud, defiantly proud and remarkably self possessed even now. Had Shade lost the bet she was sure Ria would have watched and not have felt a shred of remorse for her.

Click, whir…

Shade looked deep into Ria's eyes and wondered if there might be just the tiniest bit of pain hidden there.

Ria frowned ever so slightly, her hair rippling with each motion, with each thrust. This was the first small reaction Shade had witnessed. Gently stroking her cheeks and ears with a lover's touch, she lowered her lips onto Ria's and kissed her.

Click, whir… Click, whir… Click, whir…

Ria responded the same way she did with the pig rutting her.

She did nothing.

Shade stepped back and returned to her previous place as observer.

"I'm cumming!" He cried out.

Ria could feel the sticky substance slop all over her shaven pussy and belly. She gave no reaction to that either... When he finally pulled away she simply sat up and took the small hand towel from behind her head and began cleaning herself off.

The man who had just done all of that to her buckled against the table wheezing in a daze. His now limp dick was still outside his pants and he was just staring at the incredible beauty as she wiped herself clean. Still panting, there were sweat stains spreading out from both arm pits and under his chin. "That was fucking amazing, but I still only like young girls. You're much too old and your breasts are way too big."

Ria stopped wiping for a second and looked at him as if those words made her forget how to move. She then looked over to Shade who was watching with an amused grin on her face. "Do you acknowledge I have fulfilled the terms of our bet?"

The succubus politely nodded her head. "You certainly have, no complaints here. I actually had my doubts that you would. By the way, was it good for you?"

Ria's blood red lips turned up, but she didn't have to say anything. It was obvious that she was just biding her time and this game was far from over.

Gin could only listen in disbelief that these two were talking about such a thing with each other in such a calm manner. He could have sworn they were talking about a rather bland looking outfit for sale and not that one of them had just been on the receiving end of...that! _Damn, women are scary!_

"I will lie, cheat, and steal without a second thought," Ria said as she finished cleaning herself and slipped her panties back on. After she was done, she flicked the towel at Shade.

Shade caught it, whiffed it, winced her nose a bit and discarded it in a pile of other towels.

"But I would never break an agreement I entered of my own free will, my pride would never allow it."

Shade shook her head a bit sadly. "You really are just consumed with pride aren't you?"

"I am a vampire," she replied. As if that alone was answer enough. With her panties back on she smoothed out her skirt and looked at the fat pervert. In a flash both her hands grabbed hold of his face. There was a single sharp, 'crack' as she twisted his head almost a full 360 degrees. His body shook and twitched as it fell at her feet.

She looked down contemptuously at the freshly made corpse. "I wasn't even moving but I have no doubt that was the best someone like him could _ever _have_. _And he had the nerve to _complain_?"

"What the…" Gin cried shocked.

Shade did not bat an eyelash. Somehow she was not surprised.

Again moving faster than the eye could follow she tore the camera from Gin's hands. She smashed it to pieces, taking special care to rip the negatives to shreds.

"My camera!" Gin shouted. "Do you know how much that cost?!"

Ria turned to him with a wintry smile. "Did it cost more than your life is worth?" She inquired.

He quickly shook his head. Even transformed and under a full moon he would not want to fight someone who was stronger than Moka. As he was now it would be suicide. "Uh, actually now that I think about it, it wasn't that much."

"Oh me, oh my, that's good. My bet was to allow you to take pictures; nothing was said about you keeping them. The _only _reason I do not kill you as well is that Moka, Tsukune, and Kokoa are all rather fond of you. It would cause me unnecessary trouble were I to have to explain your death. However, should you breathe even one word of what you saw here today, I would have to kill you. Do you understand?"

Looking at the body on the floor Gin smiled and held up both hands in a gesture of surrender. "Got it, my lips are sealed."

"See that they remain that way." She tossed Shade a grudging nod of respect. "I have to admit, you _are _interesting. I very much look forward to how the rest of this little game proceeds." With that she headed for the door.

Passing Shade Ria hesitated for just an instant. She spoke in a heated whisper. "Never touch me like that again or I will kill you." She then continued on her way out.

"Hey! What about the body?" Gin complained.

"What about it?" Ria left without a look back.

"Oh just great," Gin muttered.

Shade smirked at this, but decided to keep her mouth shut out of her respect for Ria completing the bet. Leaning over Gin's shoulder, she inhaled the constant flush of pheromones off of the young man. There was nothing like a close brush with death to set the heart and body racing.

Seeing her so close he momentarily forgot about the body and grinned at her wolfishly. "You know, have you ever considered modeling?"

"I have, several times actually," she spun on her heel and started to walk away. "But every time I got in front of a camera, my clothes fell off."

Gin's lips twitched into a bigger smile. _My kind of girl! _"I need to get a new camera soon then, hmm?"

"No, you need to get rid of the body." Shade sauntered off, but turned back as Gin called out to her again.

"Where are you going? You're not even going to thank me or ask me to keep silent about all this?"

Shade blinked at him, amused at how silly he was being. "I thought Ria told you not to say anything?"

"Well...yeah, but you didn't and you didn't even say thank you." He began to pout.

_Kind of cute_, she thought. She pretended to ponder for a moment, then smiled, put her hand over her heart, and curtsied gracefully. "Thank you _very_ much for helping Ria and myself complete our bet."

He chuckled; glad to receive some praise for a change. "You're welcome."

Nodding, she turned on her heel again and began to go.

"Will I see you again?"

"I'm pretty sure you will." She called back playfully.

"When will that be?"

"As soon as you dispose of the body."

He stared at her blankly. "Eh?"

"I'm headed to talk to my sister and our darling Mumu-chan. I want them to know I won't be joining them this evening." She smiled back at him from the door. "I would just _hate _to have this wonderful reception ruined by someone finding a corpse here."

"Oh," Gin scratched his head, but still sighed in slight frustration at the trouble he had just 'volunteered' to fix. "Would you like to get something to eat later?"

"Not today, maybe tomorrow."

Gin grumbled and started picking up the pieces of film and camera. "I had this camera for years," he muttered before he dumped it in a nearby garbage can. He grabbed what was left of the film and frowned even more when he saw how irrecoverable it was.

"By the way," Shade appeared behind him, her chin resting on his shoulder with a mischievous smile. "You're not in a _too_ big a rush to get rid of the body, are you?" He could feel her wonderfully soft and skilled hands rubbing his shoulders. One eye closed involuntarily at how good it felt.

He was quite surprised at how quietly she could move. He noticed that she had taken her heels off and the light nude color of her thigh high stockings reflected some of the light. Her fine breasts pressed against his back just under her hands, moving in perfect sync with her massage.

From underneath his clothes a shaggy grey and white tail wagged.

Gin felt something start to snake up his leg, and noticed with interest it was a succubus tail entwining itself from his knee to his thigh; the black spade headed protrusion was now tracing the very large outline of his cock through his pants.

"If you'll take care of this little problem for me I'll be _ever_ so grateful," she teased in his ear, nipping his lobe with a gentle bite. "Besides, what kind of succubus would I be if I were to leave you wanting like this?" She lowered her voice to a sultry, womanly whisper, "_Please_ do this for me?"

He couldn't answer. He could barely keep himself from coherent with the way her tail began to knowingly drag across his cock through his pants.

The werewolf was shivering like a leaf under her touch, and when he didn't answer right away, she said in voice that had an innocent quality with a mewling lilt, "Pleeease, Mister...I'll be a good girl...I'll do aaaaaanything you want...You don't want me to beg, do you?"

That was all the encouragement he needed.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"What the hells her problem?" Kurumu grouched when Ria walked past and delberately shoved her hard against the wall.

She had known all about Moka's sister's bad temperament and all the hurtful things she had done to both Moka and her Tsukune, but that was supposed to be in the past. Though in an odd way it had brought her and Tsukune closer together. When he'd needed someone other than Moka she had been the one he'd come to. Still, she always wondered why Tsukune had wanted to talk to her more often then have sex. Not that she minded. It felt good just to know he needed her.

Having her destined one confide in her was far more intimate then having great, mind blowing demon sex... though they had that too. She always felt herself closer to him then Mizore was and in some ways closer than even Moka. There were some things a man could tell his lover that he could not share with his mate or wife. She could tell her mother was rather proud of her for getting closer to him. In her own way, she had become more intimate with Tsukune then Moka. He told her all his dark secrets, she did things for him that Moka wouldn't, things he wouldn't feel comfortable asking for. And, to top it off, he always thanked her in a sort of guilty way and made her promise not tell Moka.

It was perfect!

Even if she couldn't be the wife or even the acknowledged mistress her Tsukune really did need her. Now, if only she could get her Auntie to see things like this. She felt her heart rise a little at the thought of what her friends would be learning from her aunt. Oh, how she wanted to share that kind of knowledge with them! Most of those techniques were family secrets, not meant for any but her fellow succubi. But could her auntie understand how impossibly close all her friends were to her? Even the little witch and her annoying lollicon ways were endearing. She was every bit as perverted as a succubus, just less subtle about it.

_Some genius_, Kurumu chuckled.

The young succubus fixed her dress at her shoulders, annoyed that she couldn't find her auntie anywhere when the air was split by a very loud...

HOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!

Kurumu blinked.

_Gin? _"No. Fucking. Way," was all she could say when she raced down the hall to the last door labeled Laundry Room and opened the door.

Right in front of her was her auntie, she was on her knees, her body arched over a pile of table linen, burnt red dress bunched high on her back, her very round, supple bottom raised high and being absolutely punished by the gray and white course haired young werewolf. His very defined, muscular body ripped with strength as he gripped her by those amazing hips, arched his body forward mercilessly and pounded her so hard it looked like her body should have collapsed itself with such rugged fucking.

"No, you're going to deep! Too..AAAAAH!...Wait, wait.......Uuuuugh!...Too deep, toooo....MMmmmph!" Shade screamed, but it was obvious she was not fighting how much control the werewolf had over her.

He was loving every bit of it, feeling at that moment as if he was in charge and the king.

Gin pushed himself harder, deeper, and faster into the arch succubus.

HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!

Shade's tail wrapped itself encouraging one of Gin's arms, bracing herself with it. She threw herself at him, mimicking his thrusts with an expert roll of her hips that arched her back, gyrated her whole torso in an amazing contortion. She bent herself sideways to look back at him, her face a mask of pure lust.

"Oh, baby, you fuck me so good...," she purred, grunting as he dug into her willing, wet and completely bald, dark pink pussy.

"You're dick is incredible....give it to me, daddy...give me your dick," He grabbed the back of her plum purple hair and growled, her body seemed to shy away from his power, but he wasn't going to let her go anywhere.

"...yes...oh, baby, you're wonderful....You're so deep...so fucking deep..." She mewled in a feline voice that seemed to drive him all the more feral.

Kurumu watched in curious disbelief. It was very common among succubi to watch each other have sex, but it never ceased to amaze her how free and open her auntie was. She was never with the same lover twice, each one a little different and each one passionate. She enjoyed the art of it, the thrill of it, and the power it gave herself over her partner.

This time was no different than any other.

Had she not been so distracted, she would have missed the fat body that lay on the floor. She stumbled over his outstretched hand and fell on top of him. It didn't take Yukari to realize that his neck was bent at a very unhealthy angle, even for a monster. His pants were still only held up by the button, but the indecent way his pecker was hanging out and still wet with fluids left little to the imagination about what he'd been doing before his demise.

"Ouch!" Kurumu cried, looking at her hands where something poked her and caused a small cut.

It was part of the lens to Gin's camera.

Kurumu was not the brightest girl at the Youkai...she did fall in the 20th percentile of her school...the last 20th, that is, but she KNEW Gin would not be this happy about losing his most treasured camera and he was more than strong enough to handle this pathetic looking human without having to resort to killing. She was also sure her auntie wasn't being raped by the human either, her tastes were well above this. So there shouldn't have been any reason to go as far as killing him. What did happen here?

Ria storming down the hallway with that ever so pissed look on her face came to mind...

Something had happened and she wasn't sure she liked it.

"Auntie?" Kurumu called out, but not loudly enough over the werewolf's howling and Shade's encouraging pants and moans.

She walked in front of Shade and tapped her shoulder, causing her to look up in slight surprise.

"Mumu-chan?" Shade had opened her mismatched eyes and saw her blue haired niece just a few feet away from her.

The sad look in her eyes made her lose her euphoria quickly.

"What's going on?" Kurumu asked, her voice raised and pointing towards the dead human.

"Join us, Kurumu-chan... Your aunt is sooo good. She feels incredible... I've never felt this kind of softness, this kind of heat... I think I'm going to die! Help me, Kurumu-chan..." Gin started to reach for her, but that was a mistake.

Not only did Kurumu narrowly miss him with her claws, but Shade gripped his balls with her tail and squeezed.

YIPE!

Subdued, Shade shushed him gently, repositioning herself backwards so that Gin was on his back and she had him straddled, facing away from him so she could still have control and be able to talk to her darling niece.

She still continued to coax Gin with her wet, womanly crevice. She squeezed him while he was deep inside of her, soaking him with her womanly fluids, her own lustful heat.

His head fell back and his own body contorted, his oddly bent feet stretched taunt and his toes curled. He didn't seem to notice or care about the dead body just a few feet away.

"Mumu-chan, we'll talk about this later. I'm kind of busy. Besides, you should probably tell Moka and your destined one good night. They're about to go off on their honeymoon, right?"

Poised and without looking the least bit out of sorts, Shade held her conversation with her niece as if they were having a cup of tea.

Still a little unsure, Kurumu looked back over at the dead body and then at Shade. She really didn't have to say more.

"I didn't do that, sweetheart. Ria did. Gin will take care of it. I don't want Moka or Tsukune to have any problems this evening and I'm sure you don't either, right?"

Kurumu shook her head. She was more than willing to protect her destined one and his bride no matter what. She loved them both dearly.

"So I'm just paying Gin a little advance for hiding the body, that's all." Shade responded easily, bouncing and rolling herself to Gin's thrusting hips.

The young succubus still didn't look fully convinced. There was still a lot more going on then she could currently comprehend.

Only one thing came to mind and that was Moka's unexplained fearful reunion to Tsukune when she left the lady's room.

"You're not going to do anything bad to Tsukune or Moka, are you auntie?"

"Sweetie, you know as well as I do that some of the best pleasures can only be gained after suffering a little. I can promise that I won't hurt them that much."

She didn't look happy with that answer, but she did know that to be only too true.

"Okay, auntie, but please tell me you're not going upset their relationship. That would hurt my Destined One so much and I don't want him to be sad, okay? I love him and if I win him over I want it to be because he realizes he loves me the most, not because something drove him to me, okay?"

Shade was sitting very still on Gin, eyes closed and focused, doing something inside herself that made him howl again, then abruptly stop. His tongue hung outside of his werewolf maw and he eventually transformed back into the young teenage human with a handsome body and face.

Croak...

The arch succubus took another towel that from a pile and cleaned herself off in front of her niece. Tossing it away to another pile she put her dress back on and fixed her appearance, then leaned down and gave Gin a loving kiss.

"Thank you, my pet. Take care of this and I promise you a date later on at the end of the week, hmm?"

Gin nodded just the slightest bit, his consciousness coming and going at odd intervals.

"Good boy." She ruffled his hair and walked over to her niece.

"Let's go say good bye to your friends, shall we?" Hooking her arms with her niece and turning her away from Gin, she opened the door and lead Kurumu down the hall.

She started to regale Kurumu with how wonderful Gin had been and why she had not taking him up as a lover yet.

Kurumu didn't like the distraction. She knew better than anyone else that succubi would do anything for their own goals, even kill and use seduction to hide the evidence.

She was not above that herself, but this was a little different.

Kurumu wasn't trying going to dirty her hands for the sake of revenge or money or even self protection. Somehow, this involved her destined one and for _him _she would act. If her aunt meant to hurt him she would stop it... no matter what.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


	6. Ch6 Good bye, Good food, Good Memories

Kurumu walked with her Auntie, noticing with mild interest the scratches that lined the back of her neck and shoulders. Shade took Kurumu's concern with  
slight amusement... Didn't Tsukune ever get a little rough with her? The poor thing was still so innocent...it was adorable.

Giving her hair an expert shake, the scratches on her neck and shoulders were covered up. Putting her sunglasses back on she turned her attention to the departing newlyweds. Everyone's hands were in the air, waving their goodbyes.

"Have fun! Do it many, many times!" Ruby cheered, her two ponytails bouncing with her small jumps. "Don't whip him where it will leave a mark!"

"Take me with you! We can make mad passionate love as a threesome! Desu! Desu!" Yukari was in mid leap in an effort to glomp Moka's breasts, but Mizore caught her by her cape.

"I hope you make a baby, the first of many." Mizore flicked her lollipop to the other side of her mouth and held the squirming Yukari out at arm's length. "I wish to become a godmother."

"Tsukune!" Kurumu broke through the throng and pounced on him, burying his face deep in her G cup breasts, swaying and bouncing her 'girls' in soft fluffy suffocation. "Call me if you need AAAAAAANYTHING, my Destined One."

"Kurumu!" Moka shouted pulling the girl off by her hair. Despite nearly suffocating Tsukune he had a stupid grin off his face. "Get off of my husband!"

"He's my Destined One! I can love him however I want!" Kurumu pressed Tsukune's face deeper into her bosom; his arms were flailing, but he was still smiling despite his imminent death.

"Mumu-chan, that is enough," Shade's calm voice broke through to the busty young succubus and she released her grip.

"Auntie, I told you not to call me that!" Kurumu wailed in outrage.

"Mumu... chan?" Mizore turned to Kurumu, rolling the name in her mouth like her lolli. "What a cute name, it fits you."

"No it doesn't!"

Seeing Kurumu's reaction Yukari held a rather mischievous grin, one eye raised in speculation, "Now that does sound like something the milk cow would say. Like, 'Moooo, moooo.' I wonder if she knew when she was little she'd be a particular kind of bovine. Desu!"

"It was my niece's little name for herself when she was a toddler," Shade huffed, but she did lower her sunglasses at the little witch. "I would really appreciate if you keep the teasing to a minimum. It's a rather delicate subject and she needs a little support right now. Is that understood?"

"No way!" Yukari crossed her arms and puffed her cheeks stubbornly. "That big uttered cow has made a point to make my life-mph!"

Yukari was now smooshed between two sets of fairly large breasts, Aghea and Shade had her 'trapped and silenced' accordingly with fairly threatening glares.

"It would be a shame to have to exclude you in the lessons Moka and Tsukune would be willing to share among friends..." Aghea stated, her eyes glowing with slight menace, hands on her tapered hips.

"Ah, I'll be good, desu!" Yukari whimpered.

Seeing the young teen girl being handled so roughly between two huge sets of breasts brought the attention, and cameras, of several men. Their dates and likely their wives looked on without much humor. A lot of men would be begging for forgiveness many times over that night. How many actually mean it? Well, that's anyone's guess. Obviously given the frantic calls and snaps of their cameras not many were worried about it right now.

"Me next!"

"No, me, me!" Some of the men stepped forward hoping to receive the same treatment.

That was not a good decision.

SMACK!

"OW!"

WHAM!

"Yah! I'm sorry!"

Mizore and Ruby watched the scene with a mix of curiosity and a little fear. The snow woman turned to the witch and said, "It's amazing how well human women can arm themselves when they need to."

"Oh, I know," Ruby agreed. "I always come prepared for such events. The question is what do I want to use first? Handcuffs, horse crop, or the whip?"

Mizore tilted her head slightly. "Human's are weird." She muttered around her lolli.

XXXXXXXXXX

Taking advantage of the momentary distraction Moka grabbed her still smiling groom and hustled him away.

"You enjoyed that!" Moka accused unhappily.

Tsukune knew better that to lie, but he did put his hand behind his head and chuckled apologetically. "Heh, it's just her way of showing she cares."

As they neared the limo that would take them to their honeymoon Tsukune got in while Moka waited for Shade to come and say farewell. From a hidden pocket Moka produced a plain business card. She handed it over and gave the woman a quick hug.

Shade took it before looking back into the jade green eyes of the pink haired Moka. "This is where we'll be staying. It's a place out in the country my father owns and it's a long way from the city. I'll have my driver pick you up around 2PM so that gives you time to prepare. Will that be all right?"

"Yes, pretty Moka, that would be excellent. Enjoy your honeymoon tonight, you deserve it." She tried to kiss the young bride on the cheek, but Moka stopped her with a look.

"Please do come join us. My other self is _extremely _eager to meet you, Shade-sensei."

Shade noticed Moka smiling, but with a touch of vindictiveness. _I'll bet she is, _Shade thought as she made the card disappear in the space between her breasts.

Shade grinned back with amusement. "Oh, as am I, child. As am I."

"We should be going, Moka-chan." Tsukune took Moka's hand and pulled her into the back of the limo. He also gave Shade a look that was less then friendly. She watched them drive off, the tail lights going further away and then eventually disappear. The arch succubus shivered, but not because of the slight chill of the autumn wind, but with anticipation.

Everyone gave a last shout as the happy couple departed.

With their exit the reception began to break up as people started to head home. Aghea and Shade tried to console a dejected Kurumu who was crying into her hands while they waited for their limo to pick them up. Yukari was getting scolded for her behavior by Mizore and Ruby was shying away from a few men trying to get her phone number and current rates. A particularly vocal man was down on his knees yelling, "Beat me, Mistress! Beat me! Beat me!"

The three succubi were still waiting when Gin walked up to Shade, whispering in her ear, "It's done, but I should warn you that the hotel's Lemon Pepper Tar Tar is rather fresh and three times their expected supply."

"Thank you, my pet. I'll come to you with a proper reward. I promise." She pulled his collar to her and kissed his cheek.

"When?" He asked immediately, pathetically, desperately.

"After the honeymoon, a little over a week."

Gin didn't look too pleased by that answer.

"I promise you, my pet," she purred in his ear, gently scratching small circles at the back of his neck with her nails, "What I gave you was hurried and rushed. The next time I reward you'll be allowed to take as much time as you can handle."

Gin's ears perked up, "Really?"

"On my honor," show touched her hand to the fabric over her beautiful breasts, "No more than a week and half from now, you will get your reward."

She could tell that he wanted to start wagging his tail.

The family and friends were thinning and Aghea held Kurumu against her shoulder, letting the poor girl cry her eyes out. "There, there, Mumu-chan...you have to remember that she's just practice for you. We all know who your destined one really belongs to."

She sniffled and nodded, mumbling in a little girl voice, "I still didn't say Mumu when I was little."

When their long black limo arrived, Shade held the back door open. A loud, quick rev of an engine across the street caught her attention. Craning her neck, she noticed a black Lamborghini Diablo with red interior and a glaring Ria behind the wheel. This made her chuckle under her breath.

"How appropriate," she said to herself.

"A gentlemen caller, Shade-ne?" Aghea smirked at her knowingly. She was already inside and did not see who it was in the high priced vehicle, but she knew an invitation when she heard one. She got them all the time too.

"Something like that, Imouto," Shade replied airily, already walking away from Aghea's curious eyes. "I'll call you in the morning."

She closed the door and the limo pulled away. Shade watched the reckless sports car peel out from across the street and drive through traffic in a direct line towards her, making cars blare their horns and skid to avoid hitting her. Some ran off the road and into parked cars, while others stopped with screeching tires, only to be slammed from behind by oncoming vehicles. At least six cars were smashed and residual traffic did all they could to avoid other collisions.

When the window lowered on the passenger side, Shade rested her elbows on the door, showing a very nice expanse of cleavage and a brilliant smile.

"Hi, gorgeous. Looking for some fun?" She said in her most sultry, whorish voice. Another car pulled up behind the Lambo. A very nice looking corvette with a hunky young man pushing himself out of the passenger seat window whistled to get her attention.

"Hey, baby! Come join us and the boys. We're going to have a party at the frat house and we'll give you a grand up front! What do you say?"

"Hmm," Shade arched her back as she stood up, biting on the tip of her finger in consideration. Her shoes tapped on the sidewalk while she contemplated her options. As she knew it would she saw her hesitation start to anger the vampiress.

Ria looked back at her with an uncompromising glare, "Get in."

She was not asking.

"They sound like a lot of fun," She flicked her hair off her shoulders, but waved to them good bye and lounged herself in the blood red leather seats when the door rose like some kind of space craft. There were groans of disappointment from the boys in the 'vette when the door latched down, "but I guess you've earned my time tonight."

The engine whined and the midnight black Lambo left the college boys to complain in the midst of exhaust fumes.

"Well, that's usually a lot better then what I'm usually asked. Normally it's 'how much?'"

**(In an alternate universe somewhere Zabuza sneezes.)**

"I guess this will do." She straightened her dress over her thighs, noting the serious and focused way Ria was looking at her.

Shade turned to the dark beauty, feeling the sinister and very violent intent radiating from her. "No seat belt?"

Ria chuckled at her. "Oh me, or my, only the weak are afraid of dying. But feel free, it suits you."

Shade crossed her legs and arched her back into the seat, but frowned when she noticed it didn't recline. "These cars are nice, but they're not very comfortable, hmm?"

Ria took her dark eyes off the road and shifted gears with a bit of heat. The engine revved higher and she scanned Shade's tempting pose.

"I like power over comfort." She appraised Shade when she finally settled into the seat, "You're interesting." Ria called out, swerving in and out of traffic, sometimes going as far as going into oncoming traffic to get ahead of slower vehicles.

Shade braced herself with the dashboard a couple of times, more out of reflex then actual fear.

She was getting excited by her reckless mindset and it made Ria wiggle her nose at the succubus. "Would you mind keeping your thoughts on something else other then what's between your legs? It's rather distracting."

Shade made a point to look at Ria with her lip between her teeth. One hand slid up from her lap to the tight 'V' between her legs. "I could but that's hardly any fun for my kind."

Ria dismissed her attempt at distraction with a smirk, jerking the wheel of the car off the main road and onto a lonely dark street that lead to only one spot on top of a very distinct mountain. Several fast turns and under steered corners almost pushed the car over the cliff, but Ria recovered quickly enough and continued up the curvy road at break neck speed.

"You're dangerous," Shade cooed, her palms smoothing out the fabric of her dress at her hips and thighs, "I really, really like that. I find it very… alluring."

"It's nothing to play with danger if you're immortal," she dismissed as she crossed three lanes of traffic, causing several cars to crash into one another just to avoid hitting her. "I just like to hear the screams of the weak."

Shade chuckled, but her hands would not stay still on her thighs. She decided to just ride this wave of passion that Ria was expressing and see where it would take them. "Are you hoping to hear me scream?" She asked breathlessly.

"You're not weak." Ria said. She reached the end of the road and came to a crowded parking lot belonging to a very small, but very well established, restaurant.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The food here was ridiculously expensive because it was the best. Each item was expertly made, the ambiance was relaxed and every customer was treated like the precious person they were. Only seven tables filled the establishment and there was a line of people waiting to be seated. It was one of the most exclusive locations in Japan. Only the most prestigious knew of this place and even they were turned away at the manager's whim.

Le Mont Rouge was the best in several countries hands down.

As Ria pulled up to the entrance the staff working at the door gave a shout. Instantly a young boy with a red uniform was there to take the keys from her. The people standing outside complained loudly as the maitre de personally escorted her and Shade into Le Mont Rouge. At his call the wait staff brought out an eighth table from the back and set it up in a private corner that was normally reserved for Prime Minister or certain billionaire industrialists.

Shade was used to getting special treatment but even she was impressed. She turned to her 'date' and lifted a single eyebrow.

"I own the place," Ria said simply, allowing the maitre de to personally pull their seats out for them.

He started to prattle on about what was on the menu, but Ria just looked at him dismissively, "The usual," was all she had to say.

"For your beautiful friend?" he turned to Shade.

She lowered her sunglasses and bit her finger at him, making him a little nervous. "What exactly is on the menu?"

Before he could answer Ria did. "Anything you want."

"Anything?" Shade said, again impressed.

Before she could say any more a ceramic mug with a rich dark red liquid was placed before Ria.

The succubus squinted at it, but noticed with some interest when Ria lifted it and drank deeply. Whatever it was it was still very warm. Ria gave a generous sigh when she lowered it back to the table with tinted cheeks and trembling hands. "Excellent, truly wonderful, Garcon."

"Of course, Ria-sama. We live to serve you."

"I know." She gave him a slight nod in praise and turned her attention to Shade.

The succubus tapped her fingers to her chin and said. "Whatever you are most proud of serving. Surprise me."

"Very well," he bowed and then disappeared behind a door to complete her order personally.

"Blood?" Shade inquired, noticing the barely sated look in Ria's dark eyes. The smile on her lips was extremely predatory as she looked about the room as if deciding on which morsel to feed on next.

"Yessss," She all but moaned, gripping the table's top. "AB Negative and just the right temperature. Any better and it would have come directly from the source."

She licked her lips and noticed on the other end of the restaurant a family celebrating some long lived anniversary.

"I have to say, I am extremely impressed with you." Shade began when a glass of Mescato was brought to her. She thanked the server and took a sip, following Ria's eyes to the same family, someone was toasting to their half century anniversary.

Ria's attention returned to the succubus. "How so?"

"I honestly didn't expect you to follow through with our little side bet. I can't believe you allowed yourself to be put through that."

Ria's back straightened, "I agreed to the bet willingly so my pride was at stake. Steal, cheat, lie, kill; I will do anything to get what I want or to satisfy a whim. But I would never break my word."

Steepling her fingers under her chin, Shade gave Ria a demure smile. "You're just filled to the brim with pride, hmm?"

"I am a vampire." That was all she had to say on the matter.

Shade's plate of food was brought to her and it included several unique delicacies she had never tried before. They looked incredibly inviting and she nibbled upon them found they were as delicious as they were eye catching.

"Join me?" Shade pushed the plate between them offering to share.

Ria narrowed her eyes at her, "If I wanted that I would have asked for it, wouldn't I?"

Shade smirked, taking a small bite of one of the tasty morsels. "Consider it a peace offering. Just for tonight, let's just be friends, hmm?"

The vampiress rolled the idea around her head as she considered the request from her current rival. With a flick of her fingers, she agreed. "Fine."

The succubus giggled and picked up another small serving with her fingers to offer Ria.

Ria backed away as if she was insulted. "I can feed myself, thank you."

Pouting, Shade popped the piece into her mouth and chewed with delight. When she was finished she watched Ria take a piece from her plate and enjoy her sample.

"I can't help it, I guess."Shade sighed. "I like to taste and touch things." Ria frowned at her, knowing she was being crass without sounding like she was. "I think food looses a bit of its flavor when you serve yourself with forks and chopsticks and other such utensils."

Ria agreed with barely a nod. She also liked to hunt her food and feel it squirm under teeth and grip. The cries and whimpers of the victim only added to her enjoyment of the meal.

Licking her fingers, Shade watched Ria properly eat with grace and poise. "I still can't believe it, was pride what _really _what made you go through with it?"

Ria stopped in mid bite to look at Shade. "I'm a vampire, that alone should tell you all you need to know."

Shade grinned with her finger still in her mouth. Now this was a question she really wanted to ask. "Why do you hate your cute little imouto so much? She seems like a decent and nice enough girl. You let some ugly, fat, nasty bastard fuck you because of a simple bet. This all started because you said the only way to seduce Tsukune was by force and not through seduction. Do you just hate all your family this way? I only have my imouto and her daughter for family and couldn't imagine hating them."

Ria waved that away with her gloved hand. "I am fine with my other sisters. Kahlua is a monster in body but a child in mind. Kokoa is a brat but harmless enough. I accept them both."

"Then where does all this hatred for Moka come from?" Shade asked genuinely curious.

"_That _is none of your concern." Ria said in a cold flat voice.

"Awww, come on," Shade pleaded with an elegant purr. "I really want to know."

Ria gave the succubus a calculating look, the sort she often used when deciding on a business deal or a punishment for one of her slaves. "All right, but there'll be a price."

"Oh really?" Shade grinned. She could imagine what the naughty vampire had in mind. "What do you want?"

Ria looked back to the table she had noticed earlier. The old man there had to be a grandfather sitting beside an equally elderly woman who was surely his wife of a great many years. She pointed to him. "I want you to give him an open mouthed kiss right here out in public and say to him, 'Thank you for last night my darling, you were amazing.'"

Shade gaped at her. That had definitely _not _been what she expected. "Wouldn't you rather have me do something to _you_?" She said disbelieving. She'd had half the men at the reception hit on her and that boy in the corvette offering her a thousand dollars, and she hadn't even been trying. How could Ria not want her? "Do you dislike women?"

"I've had my share," Ria said without interest. "I just think I would like to see you a little humbled after what you did to me in the laundry room."

"Did to you? You accepted the bet and lost. I did nothing to you that you didn't agree to, Ri-a-sam-a." She said with a hint of playfulness. "Still, you'd rather try and humiliate me than have me give you pleasure?" Shade said her voice ringing with amazement. "I am an arch succubus! Do you have _any _idea what I could do to you? Do you have any idea what you're giving up for the sake of 'putting me in my place?'"

"Humiliating you in public will make me feel good enough," Ria said coolly.

Shade stared at her uncomprehending. Were all vampires like this? No, Moka certainly didn't seem to have this ridiculous obsession. "You really are just completely sick with pride aren't you?"

Ria shrugged, not caring what the other woman thought. "That's my price if you want to know."

"Fine," Shade agreed without interest. Something like this would probably humiliate the vampire but she had no problem with it. The old man certainly wasn't appealing, but giving him a kiss was no big deal, neither was pretending they'd had an intimate encounter. Hurting a wife, even possibly ruining a happy union were nothing new for her. As for the stares she would draw, she would actually enjoy those. "Do you mind telling me before I go over there?"

Looking unhappy Ria gave a curt nod and spoke, biting off her answer as if swallowing a bitter taste. "My father loves her."

Shade waited, expecting more but Ria said nothing else. "That's all?"

"All?" Ria gripped the mug in her hand, almost crushing it with the sound of the porcelain cracking. Her voice had a dangerous hiss of anger. The sweet charming mask slipped a bit; it had come off completely back in the laundry room. "All? I don't think you understand."

"Explain it to me then."

"I am my father's first born," she said proudly. "From the time I could talk I have shown him the honor and respect due an elder vampire and Hades Lord. I have spent my life being his shield, his protector, and his most important servant. He trusts me," she slapped her hand to her breast. "**I** run the family business and to see to all his needs. When something important or difficult comes up **I **am the one he turns to. He knows I will never betray him and that **I** would do anything he commanded of me, even ending my own life. **I**… **Love... Him!**" She said hotly.

In her gloved hand the thick mug did finally break and shatter. Ria failed to notice.

"But he does not love me," Ria said with unhidden bitterness, looking at the chipped fragments that were falling from her gloved hand. Several servants quietly came to clean up her mess and replace it with another one. They did not ask her if she was alright because they knew she was. No questions were asked or needed. "He honors me, treasures me, relies on me, and holds me high in his regard. But if I died tomorrow he would not shed a single tear. Oh he would miss me, he would regret my loss, but he wouldn't _hurt. _For as long as I have known him my father has loved only two people. Moka and her mother. _My _mother was good enough to serve as a lover and give him an heir, but he never formally took her as a mate. But he did take _that woman_. And do you know how she repaid my father for that singular honor?"

Shade silently shook her head. Seeing Ria so worked up was an interesting development. _Maybe she has something other than just pride in her._

"She **abandoned **him! That whore!! My father, a man of infinite power and wealth gave her his name, allowed her into his heart, and then she **left him**!! And if that wasn't enough he loved their daughter, Moka, as much as he had loved that worthless tramp! I've seen him cry for her, I've seen him indulge her and pamper her, and he has **told** her that he loves her! He has never once said those words to me! And _what _did Moka do? How did she thank him for his kindness? She abandoned him too!! She put on that rosario to seal up her powers so she could live among lesser beings and abandoned her family and her race. She is nothing but a weakling and an embarrassment, but my father _still _adores her! While all **I **get is his appreciation and his respect. Do you begin to see why I hate her?!"

Shade nodded sympathetically. "It's a terrible thing to love someone and not have it returned. It's even more painful to see that love focused on someone else." She placed a tender hand on Ria cheek. "I can understand wanting love," she said softly.

Ria slapped her hand away. "I don't need love," she spat.

"Are you sure?" Shade asked gently, a rare tenderness lacing her voice.

Ria sneered. "You've had your answer." She pointed in the direction of the old man. "Now go fetch my payment."

"Fine," she sighed, but not out of insult. She genuinely felt sorry for her; Ria was going through a terrible heartache. Yes, Shade also had it in her to be cruel, but there was such a heated and unbridled passion in the vampire that she could not ignore it. It stirred things in her, wonderful things.

This brought a smile to her full lips. Pushing her sunglasses further up the bridge of her nose she pushed herself closer to the table. Ria watched Shade adjust something at her waist and then smooth down her dress high up her thighs, then her knees. Reaching low to almost under the table, Ria gave her an annoyed look.

"What are you doing?"

"Making your payment more interesting."

Shade smoothed her dark burnt red dress to properly drape across her fine figure. Turning her hand over for Ria to see, she flashed what she had in her hand quickly and then closed it again.

Ria coughed right before she took a sip, covering her mouth with her gloved hand.

"You're either a raging slut or completely fearless." Ria muttered.

"Why can't I be both?" She winked.

Shade walked her fingers across Ria's shoulder as she headed off towards the table to pay off the debt.

She sauntered over with a sway to her hips, sure her vampress was enjoying the view. Ria was certainly much more passionate then she'd let on. It was a shame that her emotions were so self destructive though. She really was quite a woman.

Approaching their table the old couple looked up at her, there was another couple there as well, adult children no doubt.

"Yes?" The old man said as she came over to him.

With a girlish laugh she plopped onto his lap, wrapped her arms around him and began sucking his tongue into her mouth. She could see the look of utter shock on his face and she could hear the old woman screeching and the adults all gasping in stunned confusion.

"Father!" One of them cried as if _he _was the one causing all this.

She deliberately dragged it out, moaning and purring with the indecent kiss. He tried to push her away but she held him in place easily. Shade wondered if Ria was enjoying the show. Finally after more than a minute she let go of his mouth with a delighted laugh. Displaying what she had been hiding in her hands before him and in plain view of everyone else who was in complete outrage of this debacle.

Shade shamelessly displayed her very small black panties and tucked them into his pocket. "Thank you for last night my darling, you were amazing. Call me again, the next time is on me."

With that she got back up and walked away. Behind her she could hear the old woman crying and the man trying to explain as the others started to shout at him angrily.

"I'll wait for you outside. I think I need some fresh air. It did get rather noisy here all of a sudden, hmm?" Shade picked up the last bit of food from their shared plate and popped it into her mouth.

Ria had barely heard her. Her eyes were still on the wailing old lady who kept weeping over and over again into her hands, "How could you? How could you?"

The old man was trying to defend himself, but too many voices were against him and there were several babies wailing.

It was utter chaos.

"Well done," Ria said to no one, but decided to call her server and have that family's meal get paid for. Their pain amused her, and that was worth something.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


	7. Ch7 A Night with Vampires

Shade leaned against the wall, her fingers outlining the front of her dress just below her belly where her panties used to be. She was having a hard time breathing inside the little restaurant and it had nothing to do with the smell of smoke, food or wine.

In just this one day she had done many things, some of them bad and the others completely horrible.

She touched her fingers to her lips as she remember the silky slick feel of Moka's tender pussy and her delicate flavor, her eyes taking in the shock of that stolen innocence without her permission. Her mind also went back to the delicious heat of the young werewolf who had his way with her, stabbing her again and again with his wonderful thick cock. Her eyes closed to near slits when she recalled Ria being treated like a cheap fuck toy by a fat disgusting beast.

It had been a very interesting day.

By her very nature she loved to experience things, to _feel_. And she'd gotten more than her share of experiences today: bodies, flesh, scents, tickles, tastes, heart beats, touches, looks, breathes, whimpers, screams, orgasms, and then...euphoria!

Shade had to brace herself against the wall least she buckle to the floor in a quivering heap.

The life of a succubus was a good one.

"Oh me, oh my, you don't look well. Something bothering you?" Ria appeared behind her, folding her arms over her sizable bosom and curious as to the assault of scents she was getting from the arch succubus. She was sure this was some sort of internal weakness of their species.

The poor girl looked absolutely...rapturous?

"Help me, please." Shade begged with a breathy whisper, offering her hand to Ria and it was not the hand of a human woman. No, the nails were significantly longer and her mismatched eyes were becoming fuller, brighter. She didn't have to look at the woman's back to see the starting bulges of wings about to sprout. A tail had already appeared from below the already short hem of her dress and curled around her leg to keep from being extremely noticeable.

Ria appraised the woman before her, tempted to take advantage of her and truly enact a revenge that she so richly deserved.. "Don't move from this spot."

Shade could only nod as she leaned her head against the rough brick texture of the wall.

Ria opened the door and caught the eye of the server, "Yes, Ria-sama?"

"Get Garcon, a valet coat and my car. Meet me in the back in two minutes."

"Hai, Ria-sama."

Shade had been whimpering into her hands as she slouched against the wall. She felt a jacket and protective hands cover her shoulders. "You are lucky I agreed to be friends with you this night. I certainly would have you killed if I hadn't. The car is this way."

Ria and the Maitre De guided Shade through the kitchen and out the side of the restaurant that had several escape routes available. This one lead to the far side of the building where Ria and Shade could leave without being seen. Her car was already waiting for her.

"Thank you, Garcon," Ria praised the middle aged man.

"I live to serve," He bowed low to her after helping Shade into her seat.

"That you do," Ria slinked into her seat and closed the door to her car.

Shade gazed out the window as if she was looking past the reality of the world and into other places, other memories...Her hands fiddled with the open lock that dangled on a chain between her breasts.

"Where are we going?"

"Home," Ria said simply as she took off down the road.

"But you don't know where I live."

Ria grinned a rare smile at the arch succubus.

"I never said _your _home."

* * *

Castle Akayashi was a decrepit structure that rested on a high solitary mountain amidst several steep cliffs. A lone road wound up to the main gate where servants awaited once Ria's car was seen in the distance.

When her car stopped in front of the properly awaiting staff, a single ugly goblin waited for her when she opened her door. "Welcome home, Mistress Ria."

"Goolack, I have a guest joining us this evening." She tightened the sleeves of her gloves as she walked around the front of her car, taking in the attire of her staff to make sure they were properly dressed according to her father's strict standards.

"Yes, Mistress Ria."

She inspected them with a glance as one of the elven maidens opened the passenger side door and assisted Shade into a more stable standing position.

"Are we there yet?" Shade asked in disoriented confusion, swaying on her feet in a rather undignified manner after Goolack assisted the servant to help Shade to her feet. Her tail and two slender purple wings peeked out from underneath the jacket.

Ria sighed in annoyance. "Take her to one of the guest rooms. Have her bathed and dressed to spend the night."

"At once, Ria-sama." A pretty elven maiden with long blond hair bowed as she went to retrieve Shade from the goblin, but stopped short when Ria put her hand on the servant's shoulder and eyed her dangerously.

There was no denying the scent of her father all over the young woman.

Ria pulled at the girl's collar and noticed there were no bite marks on her.

"My father is here," she said simply, inspecting the girl's discomfort with mild annoyance.

The young blond was properly submissive and showed no signs of having been intimate with her father. Except for the scent that smothered her left no doubt as to what she had been doing with him..

_So he's in one of those moods_, Ria thought carefully. _So be it._

"Yes, Mistress Ria," The girl replied in her song soft voice the Elves were known for. "He arrived an hour ago after Moka-sama's reception."

"I'll see him immediately," She walked past her servants and past the heavy tall wide doors to the castle. "Have my instructions carried out and make sure she's well taken care of. She's our guest for the evening."

"Yes, Mistress Ria." They all called out together.

* * *

Ria walked with a mild sense of urgency as she went down one corridor and then the next until she came to Lord Akayashi's room. When she approached to knock her fist stopped just as it was about to rap on the thick wood.

Giggling girls of assorted races and her father's booming laughter came through muffled, but still clear enough for her to guess what was going on on the other side of the door.

She could smell...

Ria touched her nose with the back of her hand. She really didn't want to be reminded of _that_ particular scent from her father.

Exhaling in frustration, she started to knock again but the door opened with a scantly clad fairy just a hand shorter then her with bright peach colored hair, gold eyes, and slim figure. "The Master wishes to see you." She chimed gleefully.

Ria kept her groan to herself. It was not a pleasant sight to see her father _this_ happy.

Walking into the room, it was a rare to be exposed to her father's full harem tending to him. Each one of his personal girls was easily among the most beautiful to be found anywhere, some were even Ria's equal when it came to appearances and figure. (Though none of these empty headed twits could approach her intellect or driving will.) Several spent females were draped over him shamelessly naked; offering kisses and rubs with their bodies. He was sitting back with a thick golden goblet in his hand drinking some type of warm blood, Dijinn perhaps by the smell of it. It was extremely rare, next to impossible to get, and exactly the sort of thing father would have a taste for.

"Lord Akayashi, I have returned-" Ria began, but her father interrupted her.

"Ah, Ria, my daughter," he grinned a toothy vampire smile to her, red slit eyes and silver hair disheveled about his handsome face. "Come embrace your father. He needs to feel the love of a daughter who isn't despised by him tonight."

As she approached through the throng of feminine bodies to reach him, she got a much closer look of the melancholy expression her father's face... It spurned her anger. _How dare that bitch do this to him_, she thought. _Why?_ She thought bitterly. _Why must he give her so much power over him?_

"Now, now," he wagged a finger at her, his expression letting her know her thoughts were plain to read on her cool expression, "I won't have those kinds of thoughts today, Ria. Tsukune and Moka beat me at my own game, using your rules, I might add. They did the impossible, so deserve the impossible."

"I remember, my Lord Akashiya." She leaned over and tightly embraced him.

In a weird twist, it was her father who didn't pull away from her like he normally did. Instead, he gently stroked her hair and nuzzled his cheek next to her own. The very tenderness, the very fatherly touch almost made her weep.

This was how he used to hold Moka, how he used to touch her so lovingly. She knew because she watched him do that to her imouto and feel a consuming jealousy, but now he was doing it to her.

"Will you soon leave me too, my daughter?" he asked her softly, leaning heavily against her.

Ria shook her head vehemently. "Never, Lord Akashiya. I will always be here with you at your side."

He pulled away from her and smiled, a sacred and precious thing she could honestly say she never once received from him. "Would it hurt you so much to call me 'father' or 'daddy' for once? I don't think I've ever heard you say it to me."

Ria looked at him nervously, "It was never proper, but I would be glad to...daddy."

"That's my girl," He grinned and pulled her to his chest to lay on his shoulder against the large pillow behind him.

This had to be one of the best nights of her life and she honestly had to say it was thanks to her sister Moka and that stupid, once human husband of hers, Tsukune.

"Here she is!" a voice piped before opening the door.

Ria opened her eyes to the very childish giggle of her younger sister Kahlua.

She groaned into her father's chest as she realized the very simple but annoying mistake she'd made: she'd forgotten to lock the door..

Tanned, blond, and in a beautiful formal white dress, her tall slender sister had her arms linked with Shade who seemed to have recovered a bit. They were discussing something of dire importance like fashion or jewelry when a fuming yell caught their attention.

"Why do you smell like my, Nee-sama!" Kokoa shouted behind Shade wielding an ungodly large spiked mace in her hands. "You did something to her, didn't you?!"

Kokoa swung the mace quick and fast at Shade, but it was Khalua who slapped it away with a pretty smile on her face, causing Kokoa to get launched across the hall and bounced several times before coming to an inelegant halt that had her body twisted and her skirt raised high for the world to see strawberry prints on her underpants.

This didn't even distract the two older girls from their conversation they seemed to be in the middle of.

"You have such a pretty tiara, dear," Shade touched the jeweled item on Khalua's head, which made her burst into a fit of giggles.

"Thank you! My daddy got it for me. It was once worn by the princess of Atlantis."

Everyone's attention was now turned towards their guests and several gasps from the succubus in the room started a small disruption of their decorum.

"It's the Mistress Caro!"

"I can't believe the Arch Succubus is here! I'm going to tell my mom as soon as I can."

"Do you think she came to teach us?"

"Oh, please teach us how to be better for our Master, Shade-sama!"

The squeal of feminine pleas and requests from the succubi caught Lord Akashiya's attention, much to Ria's annoyance.

"Is this the friend I was told you brought home, daughter?" He asked with mounting interest.

She had seen her father in all states of undress, as he had her for that matter, but it was one thing to walk into it unexpectedly. It was quite another to see it from its awkward beginnings.

"Yes, father. Please, allow me to introduce my guest for the evening," Ria regretfully pulled herself from her father's arms and escorted him between the young harem that sat waiting at his feet.

"This is Shade Caro, the eldest aunt to Moka's friend Kurumu." Ria gestured politely.

Shade curtsied low, her head tilted to the side and her hand over her breast. "It is my greatest privilege and honor to meet my Lord Akashiya."

She extended her other hand for him to take and he did, kissing the knuckle with a smile. "Your Lord? So does this mean you claim me as your sovereign king?"

"Of course," She said easily, smoothly. "I am in your kingdom and dimension. It is a fool who does not recognize you as their Majesty while here in your domain," She trembled demurely as he continued to hold her hand, "my Lord."

"Hmm," he turned to all the females in his room, especially the succubi with curiosity, "she is your Mistress, the true Arch Succubus?"

"Oh, yes Master!"

"She is, I swear, Lord Akashiya!"

"Please let us learn from her so we can please you better!"

Similar appeals followed fervently.

Ria didn't like the direction this was headed. As much as Shade was a guest in her home, she felt the distraction from her father/daughter moment deserved a little break...one that involved pain.

"Oh me, oh my, what a wonderful Mistress she is. Shade has also offered to teach Moka and her husband Tsukune how to become better lovers for each other as well as their friends, Lord Ak… father. She is expected to meet with them after noon tomorrow."

"Is that so?" Lord Akashiya turned his eyes to Ria with slight annoyance, understanding her lead, then back to Shade to with just the barest hint of suspicion. "Is that why I smell her on you, my Moka-chan? You've touched my daughter?"

He gripped Shade's fingers just a little too tightly, a subtle but very clear warning.

Shade's elegant curtsy dipped slightly to the right and gripped her hand painfully, "I wanted to give her a sample of my techniques, of my abilities, my Lord. I gained her permission following a small session. I have her card to prove it."

"Where," his voice hardly changed, but his eyes had narrowed just the slightest bit.

"Here," she reached between her breasts and offered the simple card to the Elder Vampire.

He scanned it quickly with a flick of his eyes and then helped Shade to her feet, massaging her fingers in an unspoken apology. "You must forgive me, Lady Shade, but I am very protective of my Moka. She is rather unique and holds a special place in my heart. Still, I have never expected my little Moka-chan to be enticed by a woman's charms, even one as lovely as yourself."

Lord Akashiya skimmed his eyes over the succubus's generous form. Shade slid her hand over her hip and noticed the Elder Vampire was keen to the fact she was not wearing underwear.

He darted his tongue to lick his lips, "You have other scents on you as well. A busy night?"

Shade looked back with her mismatched eyes inviting him to ask her anything. "Of course, my Lord Akashiya. I had to show your favorite daughter what it feels like to be properly touched so she would accept my teachings, I rewarded a boy who did me a small service, and I ruined a happy family's trust for the sake of learning how your eldest daughter feels about you and her family. It has been an interesting, yes."

Ria wanted to say something, but it was Lord Akashiya who spoke over her, "That is very informative. Almost too informative, however, it is nice to see that Ria has friends who are not only as cruel as she can be, but also brave and loyal. Such a person would either have to be killed for knowing so much, or rewarded. What do you think I should do, Lady Shade?"

"It is what the Lord wishes." She lowered her eyes demurely, offering herself simply. "However, if I was to be praised or punished, I would have only one request either way."

"Oh? And what might that be?"

"That I would have the honor of the Lord Akashiya using me this evening," she lowered herself further, rubbing the side of her cheek against the outside of his thigh in an ancient posture of submission. "and paint the outside of me," she licked the front of his thigh, just a few inches away from his impressive member hanging in front of her, twitching to be touch, to be tasted, "and the inside."

His lips twitched at her, amused and curious. Her pheromones were all but rampant and he could not deny that he could smell his own arousal at the tempting position she held before him. Her body was an amazing canvas for him to do as she suggested; full, to almost bursting breasts, hips that were lush and promised perfect, supple place to grip, plump lips that offered just a little too much flesh to be used for kissing or...other things. Her eyes were inviting in just the right way; not too eager, but earnest in her desire to satisfy his every want. To show she didn't fear death so much as she desired to offer him pleasure, to receive his 'gift' any way he would care to give it to her.

The Arch Succubus was properly cowed before the Elder Vampire and it was obvious he was in a mood to enjoy the night of his daughter's wedding in his own way.

"I have always found the fruits of my succubi some of the tastiest of my harem," Lord Akashiya began, letting his finger trace over the exquisite face of this offered woman. She blushed at his slight attention. "And they are purely talented in the way to please men, but it is a shame they are not as strong as we vampires. Some of them would make magnificent mates to provide an heir. So you are an Arch Succubus, a step above all those here?"

The other succubi were quick to agree, quick to add their voices that she was indeed something above them.

The other races, Elven, Siren, Mermaid, witch, snow women, fairy, djinn looked about unhappily at being ignored by their master for a possible night.

"Very well," he traced her lips with his finger and she wrapped her lips around it and sucked on it gently, making small whimpers at her desire to do this to other parts of him. "But not tonight. I will hear from my Moka-chan if I should accept you as a lover."

"Of course, my Lord," Shade voice held disappointment, she had never been with a vampire elder before. His masculine scent was powerful to the point of almost being overwhelming.

The Lord of Hades helped her to her feet and turned to Ria's emotionless, but clearly frustrated chocolate brown eyes. "You either have a friend here I won't mind letting you keep, or an enemy I expect you to kill if I say so, my daughter."

"Yes, my Lord… yes father."

"For now, show her the courtesy of our home and make sure she meets our Moka properly. I want to ensure my daughter is well taken care of by someone who comes so highly recommended."

The cheers from the succubi in the room were impressive. They were eager to please him again; calling him with mewls and coos of delectable female promise.

Chuckling as he was pulled back onto the bed, where the rush of female pheromones engulfed Ria and Shade, the Eldest Daughter tugged at Shade's sleeve and that of her imouto out of the room.

"Yeah! My daddy is happy and Ria-chan has a friend!" Kahlua danced about them as Ria closed to door and turned her scalding eyes towards Shade.

"Good night, Kahlua," Ria gave her young imouto a slight bow, which she returned with a beautiful and elegant curtsy using her formal gown to its fullest.

"Good night, Ria-chan."

Kahlua squealed as she pulled Shade into a tight hug. "Good night, Shade-chan!"

Shade smoothed the blond hair out of the bright child like expression from her eyes. "You too, Kahlua-chan."

Ria smoothed her hair off her shoulder and called off to Shade, "Follow me."

Shade was in wonderful spirits, "Gladly."

She hooked her arm with Ria's and leaned against her as if they were a couple walking down the hall towards another wing away from her father's room. Once they were clear of any visible servants and as far as she could be from her Father, Ria gripped Shade's arm and slammed her against the concrete wall hard enough to fracture it.

A startled cry of pain came out of Shade's mouth before it was halted by Ria's hand on her throat.

"If you have any desire to form a friendship with me you _WILL_ stay away from my father! Do you understand me?!" Ria was shouting now, her fingers trembling to remove her rosario. If she was to unleash it her father would know and she would have to explain as to why she did it. As a guest, attacking Shade without provocation would be dishonorable. Ria's fingers clenched into her gloved sleeves, but she schooled her anger with the memory of how affectionately her father had just treated her. She could endure her father loving her young sister more than her ...at least in front of him, she could. Losing her father's sudden affection was something she was unwilling to risk.

Gripping Ria's wrist with both hands, she was barely able to pry her fingers off her neck. The vampress was using an impressive amount of strength, and hadn't even removed her rosario, that surprised Shade to no end. She knew she was easily the girl's equal as far as power went, but there was so much passion, so much emotion behind her attack that she had to use both hands or else...

Ria opened her hand just enough for her to free herself.

She fell to the floor, coughing and gagging, her hand going to her wounded throat to massage the pressure she still felt. "What the fuck is wrong with you?!"

Ria still held her hand out as if continuing to strangle her.

"I told you, didn't I?" Her voice had become soft, emotionless and unfeeling. "I love him and I would kill to keep what little affection I have gained from him. I wish to keep it without any complications, so I can't have you getting in the way. Is that understood?"

Shade frowned at her, still rubbing her throat. "Yes."

"Good, follow me." Ria smoothed her dress at her hips and turned to a door just down the end of the hall, acting as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. "This is your room. I'll have you sent for when breakfast is ready."

As Shade walked past Ria, she turned to her with her hand gripping the vampress's, her expression forgiving and inviting. She still seemed quite interested in her, as if the incident had turned her on more than it made her wary of the temperamental Ria.

"Care to help me with my bath?" Shade held Ria's gaze for a moment, fighting some inner conflict of whether or not to accept an invitation. She moved her mouth several times, leaning one way and then the other. She was feeling something stirring inside her belly at the thought of accepting the succubus's invitation.

She needed a release as well, something to distract her from the tension her father's, her family's actions were causing her.

"Perhaps another time," Ria pulled her hand free started to walk away. "I'll call my servants to assist you."

Shade chuckled. "I'll take you up on that."

Ria nodded and left, thinking of her day with her sister, her father, and her new acquaintance.

It was a long evening and Shade was not the only one in need of a bath. Ria could still feel the spot on her belly where the fat pervert spilled his cum on her. The memory filled her with distaste and made her scrub harder. When she was as clean as she could be she leaned back in the herb scented water and tried to simply relax and forget.

Yes, a long bath would do just fine.

* * *

At least two hours after washing, bathing, and soaking Ria dismissed her servants and felt refreshed enough to exit her luxurious washroom and put on a very pretty tan night gown. Her servants wished her good night and closed the door behind them.

She got into bed and felt the comfort of sleep pulling at her when she heard the door of her room open and immediately became alert.

"Ria-sama, there is a matter that still needs attending to." A female voiced, her tone mimicking one of her many servants.

She turned to look at the spill of long dark hair that came over one shoulder and the robe that was being untied as she approached the side of the bed.

Ria narrowed her eyes and appraised her. She knew who it was.

No servant of hers would dare disturb her sleep unless it was a matter from her father or something else of the greatest importance.

"Ria-sama, I think it only proper I repay your kindness and your courtesy."

Shade crawled over the edge of the bed, prowling Ria with her robe partly open to reveal her amazing breasts.

"I never allow anyone to join me in my bed without my permission, Shade." Ria's voice was quiet, only the smallest tremor betrayed indecision.

Shade lowered her head and pressed her lips to Ria's gown over her knee, then to her hip. She tossed her hair off to one side of her head as she continued to nip, bite, lick and slowly position herself over Ria's supine form. She purposely dragged her lips across the valley of Ria's breasts to her neck, leaving a slick wet trail of open mouthed hot kisses that were cooled when she moved further up her neck.

Shade didn't need to have Ria's sense of smell to know she was enjoying it. Ria's fingers trailed up Shade's arms, pulling her closer. Her breath was hitched, her eyes half closed and her temperature warming to the ministrations the arch succubus was giving her. Shade could feel Ria's heart race under her kisses, see the throb of her pulse at her neck.

She kissed her there.

A small moan escaped the dark beauty's lips, her body arched beneath Shade's touch.

"You're beautiful, Ria-chan," Shade breathed into Ria's neck, pushing a strap off her shoulder. Her gown barely covered her nipples as she moved under Shade's kisses and licks.

"I want to taste you, Shade-chan," Ria whispered into Shade's ear. "Let me taste you."

Ria gently pulled Shade over her hip and helped her fan her hair out over the side of the bed. She untied the last tangle of knot that held Shade's robe together and opened her like a remarkable gift. Even in the dark her skin glowed, her fine remarkable breasts were pert with thick hard pink nipples and large aureoles. Her hips were wide, nicely rounded and gracefully swept. The beautiful juncture between her legs was a very inviting target for her to gaze at, want to touch and seek.

Ria trailed a finger across the plump of her mouth and then the side of her neck.

Resting herself between Shade's opened legs, she gently grazed her beautiful nipples with the back of her fingers, eliciting an inviting moan from the succubus.

"You're magnificent as well, Shade-chan." She lowered herself against Shade's neck and licked, dragging her tongue slowly over her pulsing skin. Ria lowering herself, her hips against Shade's, lounging down on her. Their breasts meshed, nipples hardened against the other as she gripped Shade's wrists over her head with one hand and then grasped the rosario in the other.

"But you really should listen when I say I don't allow anyone into my bed without my permission."

Plink. The rosario was pulled off and tossed onto a pillow..

"What?"

CHOMP!

"MMMmmmph!" Shade's scream was not one of pleasure, but of muffled agony.

Ria's full vampire self erupted and her free hand covered Shade's mouth, her two inch fangs ripped into Shade's neck.

Her power smothered Shade in overwhelming pressure. She was not prepared for this onslaught and was easily handled at Ria's whim. Whatever power the arch succubus could try and match the vampress with, she was ill equipped to do so now. Ria pressed herself like a vice against Shade's neck, pressing her body down hard against Shade's wild thrashings.

This wasn't a vampire's kiss or a seductive nibbling. Ria was drinking so deeply she could kill her right here and now. They both could feel it, the ebbing of life from one feeding into the other. Whatever light could be seen in Shade's eyes was starting to dim. Her body began to tremble, become weaker, become subdued and helpless.

Shade could hear Ria gulping greedily of her blood, her lips pressed hotly against her neck as she growled with her feeding.

With an abrupt push, Ria shoved Shade off her bed in a tangle of clothes and skin.

"You stupid, egotistical bitch! What claim do you think you have over me that you could possibly believe you can come to my room and try to seduce _ME_ against my will and not suffer any consequence? Do you think I am my sister? Do you think I will give into you because of your skill? Because of your ability? Because you're pretty?"

Ria wiped her fanged mouth with the back of her hand and glared at the gasping succubus at the edge of her bed with murder in her eyes. It was all she could do to not kill her right then and there. Instead, she stomped over to Shade and grabbed her by the top of her hair, dragged her to the door, and opening it. She already had servants approaching along with several guards. Their footsteps could be heard echoing down the hall.

She raised Shade up by her hair so Ria could look her square in the eye and know the level of her displeasure. Bright red blood seeped from two deep punctures at her neck down the front of her breasts.

"I am a vampire hundreds of years old and I have had lovers before you were even born! Don't mock my friendship by thinking you can take advantage of me in my own bed! Know your place!"

With that, she threw her into the arms of her guards as if she was nothing more than garbage.

They tumbled down in a mass of bodies from the sheer force. One servant who had not been caught called out. "Shall we have her 'taken care of' and the situation sanitized, Mistress Ria?"

Ria stared at the limp body of her newly acquainted 'friend' and considered it. She admired the woman for her audacity and bravery, enjoyed her skill as a woman and an obviously talented lover to be, but there were lines she would not permit to be crossed. Still, she was only being herself and what was more she was one of the few people that could see the pain in her heart and had offered to try and temper it. Shade may not have gone about it the right way, but it was the intent that mattered as much as the action.

"No, have her seen to and make sure she is well by noon. Do whatever it takes. She is still my guest and will be treated as such. She just needed a lesson that I'm sure she is now more than well aware of what her proper place is."

"Yes, Ria-sama." They started to walk away with Shade in their arms after covering her up decently, but a voice made them stop in their tracks.

"What was that?" Ria heard Shade mumble something through her pale lips, but couldn't quite make of it.

Feebly, Shade reached up and cupped Ria's cheek and whispered something only she could hear.

Ria blinked at her before she shook her head in disbelief. Putting the rosario back on to seal her vampire form, she wiped at her lips and looked down at Shade's slight smile. "Yes, it was good for me. Rest and get better, I'll see you in the morning."

The Succubus expected this outcome and allowed this for Ria's pleasure.

The eldest daughter of the Lord of Hades watched them take Shade away and couldn't help but admit that was truly one amazing succubus.


	8. Ch8 A Morning with Vampires

When Shade woke up, it was in a bed meant for royalty, which meant it was the sort of bed she'd been in many, many times before. Luxuriant four post king sized, with an abundant throw of pillows and comforters covered her semi naked form. Expertly cut bandages wrapped around the aching wound of her neck and an IV drip fed some type of blood synthetic into her arm with a constant trickle as she blinked her mismatched azure eyes. It was late morning and she felt all sorts of pain, not to mention the lethargy of her entire body. All of this was a result of last night's less then satisfactory good night kiss.

She knew it could have gone either way with Ria when she braved entering her room without permission. Her pursuit of pleasure had put her life in very real danger, but that had been the whole point of last night's little venture. The Arch Succubus was going to either get what she wanted or she was going to suffer even worse at the hands of her new vampire, 'friend.'

The succubus chuckled as she placed her hands over her eyes tiredly, "That bitch."

"You mean _this_ bitch?" Ria's calm voice came from the open door. She had been watching her for a while with her arms crossed over her sizable bosom, her hair slightly disheveled, her gown still showing spatters of blood, and her countenance looking anything but apologetic when she entered the room. "Oh me, oh my calling your host a bitch even as you enjoy her hospitality and _mercy_. You're rather rude and ungrateful, aren't you?"

Shade turned her best smile to her, ignoring her comment altogether. "Come to get breakfast in bed?"

"Don't tempt me," Ria's slippered feet slowly approached her guest, eyes appraising the length of the Shade's fine outline. Her guest could see Ria's hungry stare lingering on her wounded neck and flawless unmarred wrists.

Shade covered her mouth as she cleared her throat. "Normally when I wake up in someone's bed there are warm words, half hearted apologies, kisses I can't escape and hands roaming over me to have one more go before I hit the road."

She added with a slight chuckle,"At the very least there is cab fare."

"I could have killed you." Ria's voice held no humor. "What games do you think you can play with me? I have no intention of being one of your many trifling conquests, yet you come to _my_ room and expected me to satisfy you?" She shook her head. "I really should have just killed you."

"Who says I was there to satisfy me?" Shade simpered, unafraid of Ria's very real and tangible threat. "I wanted to put a smile on your face that had you dancing on your toes." She twirled a finger at Ria accusingly, playfully. "By the way, you look absolutely stunning this morning, even spattered in blood."

Ria was not influenced at all by the compliment.

Shade tried to prop herself up, one elbow supporting her head, but that was a bad idea. It cocked her neck a bit and her attempt to look sensual came off flawed.

"Shit, that hurts." She winced, biting her lip. Eventually giving up, she rolled over on to her back and looked at the dark haired chocolate eyed beauty with mirth. "I don't think the Lord Akashiya would have appreciated you killing me."

Ria's eyes flashed open just enough to warn she was not pleased by the mention of her father.

"I could potentially be his lover and it would be a shame to have me killed off before he could get his first taste. Besides," Emboldened with the reaction her words affecting the vampress, the arch succubus peeled the blanket down just past her very round and pert breasts, cupping them, squeezing them with one hand, and let the other snake low under the comforters, past her belly where her legs parted and her knees lifted. There was no doubt what her fingers were doing when her eyes took on a hazy and clouded stare of pleasure.

"Do you think he would want me because of my reputation as an arch succubus? Or maybe..." she stopped as she let out a low moan, the movements under the comforter began to move a bit faster.

Ria leaned one shoulder against the post closest towards Shade's head, her tongue unconsciously licking her lips. "Maybe?"

"Maybe he wants me to sample his daughter so he could taste her from _my_ lips. He does seem to take her care into a higher consideration then anything or _anyone_ else. Am I wrong?"

Ria let out a low hiss and her eyes narrowed dangerously. Shade's head loll to the side, looking away. A lusty sigh escaping her full pink lips as she maneuvered her fingers under the sheets and between her legs. Soft rustling of moving fabric and fingers manipulating her sex whispered around them, catching Ria's attention, her interest. She reached a shameless level of ecstasy that had her thighs clenching over her wrists and the other free hand rolling her D cup breasts, her index finger flicking over her hardened light pink nipple.

"The Lord Akashiya has dozens of harems of more than a score of races to serve at his beck and call." Ria called off frostily. "Yes, you are significant in your kind, but there are others who are just as skilled and just as eager to please him. You wouldn't be missed if you were not even given a chance for a proper audition. You had best know your place, even if my father wanted you, you would still be only one of many. As for the other thing," her mouth twisted in obvious distaste. "Do not be disgusting."

Shade's head tipped back, her mouth opened in a silent moan as she arched her breasts and shivered at her climax, her beautiful tits trembling in small supple circles as she moved her hand against herself, pleasuring herself in front of her host. With her free hand with the IV drip, she reached out to Ria with a naughty little smile. "Join me."

Ria shook her head in disbelief. "Oh me, oh my there really is no shame in you, is there? First you barge into my bedroom uninvited and now you wish for me to join you like this? Truly, you are remarkable in both your audacity and your stupidity. I will not have you take a chance and get retribution with me so easily."

Shade rolled over under the comforters, her smile challenging as she crawled over near Ria to get as close as she could. The dark comforter fell away from her and Ria could see all of the succubus in her natural glory from neck to knees. The slick essence of lubricant was literally glazing her inner thighs and down her other hand that she rested against one of the posts to the bed. "Scared?"

Shade made a move to touched Ria's beautiful face with her moist hand, but Ria caught her by the wrist before she could touch her. Keeping her dark eyes locked with Shade's, she put one single digit against her lips and suckled the glittering flavorful fluid from her fingers.

Silently, her message was well received. _I'm not afraid of anything._

Dark plum colored locks covered one shoulder as Shade leaned forward to kiss her, but Ria pushed Shade's own hand towards her lips. "Get dressed, you're going to be late if you're going to meet my imotou and her husband. I'll have my servants come check to see how fit enough to leave and have a limo waiting for you. You have five minutes."

Flicking her hair over her shoulder, Ria sashayed out of the room, but turned her head just the slightest bit when her name was called.

Dragging her tongue over her long fingers glazed with her own juices, Shade grinned, "Maybe next time I can lick your fingers after you've wet them?"

She considered it. "Maybe." Ria commented as she walked out the door.

* * *

When Ria was well into the next hall and right before she was about to see her servants to attend to Shade, she leaned her head against a pillar, muttering softly to herself, her nails digging small gouges in the cement. Her panties were completely drenched, a small wet trail lined her inner thigh because of the thick smell of her pheromones and that of the succubus's smothering her. Her right leg trembled at the sensations engulfing her and she had not been touched yet. Even though she had played herself coolly against Shade's lures, she really did wish to sample what was offered.

Her pride wouldn't let her, though. Ria Sakitan would not fall so easily.

"She really doesn't know her place." Ria muttered before straightening herself up and continuing.

* * *

The walk down the ornate halls of Castle Akashyia, left Shade impressed once more. A fair haired elven butler came to guide her to the breakfast table where Lord Akashiya was seated at the end of a long oak table filled a huge assortment of plates, bowls, glasses, candles and many types of centerpieces along it's length. He and Ria were discussing some kind of business over several plates of foods and glasses of warm blood as she approached.

She was halted by the elven servant as he discreetly stepped into her path. "You _do not_ approach the master until given permission to do so." He gestured to a seat at the far end of the table.

_They do like to put on airs, these vampires. _Shade turned an amused smirk to the servant, and nodded her acquiescence, but still wanted to get some kind of attention. Closing her long dark lashed eyes, she brushed her hands over the very round taper of her hips and thought of various ways to Lord Akashiya and his daughter to notice her. "Excuse me," she called out in her melodic voice. "But could I sit a bit closer to the both of you? I just hate eating alone." She bit the tip of her finger and pouted.

Both their heads popped up, their discussion momentarily forgotten. Ria did not look happy about the sudden interruption.

Lord Akashiya, however appeared rather amused.

"Good morning, Lady Shade." He gestured to the seat to his left across from his daughter. "Please join us."

Shade lowered her eyes properly, "Thank you, my Lord. I would be happy to." She sauntered over to the seat, waiting politely as the elven butler pulled it out for her. As soon as she was properly seated a maid she had not noticed placed a plate ladenned with cakes and muffins and other sweets. Clearly the staff had learned her tastes.

"How was your evening?" The Lord of Hades and Elder Vampire asked in a pleasant voice, his eyes glancing over her burgundy evening dress appreciatively. The woman looked ready for sex just by sitting slightly askance, her hair over one shoulder that concealed the bandage over her neck.

"It was eventful," She turned her eyes at Ria and saw her less then interested. The daughter was doing her best to ignore her and was instead looking over a spreadsheet, and circling various numbers with a marker.

"So I heard," he announced, taking a red pen he leaned over and marked changes as well. "I normally don't allow my daughters' to remove their seals in my home unless there is an emergency. Was there one?"

Ria took her eyes off the paper, about to answer, when Shade placed a hand on her thigh under the table.

"It was my fault, Lord Akashiya," Shade lowered her head in humble apology. "I had to be reminded of my manners in your home and the lesson was a bit," She touched her fingers to her neck, "Rough. I was out of line as a guest and ask forgiveness of you and your daughter."

"Oh?" Lord Akashiya turned to Ria, his expression calm but unreadable. He was waiting for her reply.

"I do not allow people into my bed chambers without my permission. She tried her hand at seducing me," Ria stated bluntly. "I showed her my displeasure."

Her father nodded. "Is that what happened?" He turned to Shade for her confirm.

"It is as she says, my Lord." She said with a teasing lilt to her voice. "I was a bad girl."

Lord Akashiya's lips turned a little at the humorous comment.

"Did you feel threatened Ria?" He asked.

She swallowed a little, "No, my Lord."

Her father had not raised his voice, had not looked up from his examination of the spreadsheet, but a small flush of nervousness had touched her cheeks.

Unless she was threatened and _HAD_ to keep the Rosario on, even for the eldest daughter it was unwise to disobey her father's rules.

"I see." he glanced up at her briefly, keeping his strong indomitable eyes towards her. "I thought I told you to call me father."

Even in this, his voice was tranquil, calm.

But Ria understood the message quite clear.

_You have disobeyed me two times over, Ria._

Ria nodded her head quickly, her hair rippling with her movements. "I apologize, Father."

Lord Akashiya nodded, accepting the apology easily enough since it was the daughter he was most proud of.

"That's all right," he patted Ria's shoulder affectionately. Even this small gesture made her smile warmly; signs of approval from him had always been rare. _Except for Moka of course._

"Lady Shade," he called out and Shade raised her eyes a little. "You are to meet my daughter Moka in a couple of hours and instruct both her and Tsukune how to become better lovers."

He was not asking her, but she murmured, "Yes, my Lord."

Ria couldn't help but wilt a little at the very slight ache in her father's voice. She couldn't even let on how she wanted to thrash her little imouto and rip her to bloody pieces. She could read her father better than anyone and to her it was still only too obvious the place Moka yet held in his heart.

"Would you make sure to be," he thought of the proper words for such an intimate task. "Careful with her? I would see it as a personal favor if you did so."

Ria's lips pulled back, but schooled it quickly when he felt her father's grip on her shoulder tighten ever so slightly.

_His personal favor!? How dare that little bitch cause father to lower himself by asking!_

"It would be my honor to fulfill your request, my Lord." Shade said graciously, lowering her head, letting a magenta hued lock to fall between her breasts. "I assure you Lord Akashiya I am only too eager to satisfy your desire."

Lord Akashiya smirked again at the not so subtle hint Shade offered. "Well then, for that you will have my thanks."

They enjoyed a brief breakfast when a servant passed on a message to the Elder Vampire in which he needed to attend to personally.

"It would seem something needs to be settled among the Lords of Hades," He checked his cufflinks at his sleeves and glanced at his daughter. "My new son has stirred some interest, his nature is drawing support from other races for more open relations with _humans_," he said the word with less distaste then usual. While he thought very highly of Tsukune more than thousand years of experience still left their mark. "Some of the Witches, Snow people, Werewolves, Succubi and other lesser pure and half breeds consider him a role model of sorts. The more conservative elements are rather wary of the direction things are taking. The other Lords wish to meet and discuss the situation."

Ria noticed the slight sound of pride in his voice and fumed a little more. The idea someone who'd been born human could illicit such a reaction from her father sickened her. She felt Shade's hand squeeze her thigh gently under the table, a sign of support and affection.

Ria slapped it away in annoyance.

"Embrace me, daughter." Lord Akashiya said quietly.

She quickly got up and did so eagerly, kissing his cheek.

"You are the pride of my eyes, Daughter. You never fail me and I love you."

"Thank you, I love and adore you as well father." Her face turned red, such was the effect of hearing her father speak such words to her.

Releasing her, he called out to Shade.

She stood up quickly. "My Lord?"

He took her small hand into his and smiled. "I look forward to hearing good things from my daughter Moka."

"Oh so do I," Shade purred automatically, "I think she's a moaner."

A startled look crossed his face. "Indeed," he said quietly and then departed with a group of servants following in his wake.

"A moaner?" Ria spat as soon as he was gone from ear shot, turning furious brown eyes at her crass remark.

Shade turned to her feigning innocence. "Should I have said she was probably a screamer?"

The rest of the breakfast was quickly wrapped up when Ria snatched the spreadsheets under her arm and marched away as fast as she could in a huff.

Shade sat herself back in her seat and bit into a sugar sprinkled strawberry. "I wonder if it was something I said."

* * *

A handful of servants followed Ria as she escorted Shade to the front of the ancient castle where a long dark limo waited. As she exited the grand hall she glanced at her family's coat of arms. Displayed there was the image of a lord sitting upon a throne as three figures knelt before him. Etched around this scene were these very simple, but very poignant words, "Know Your Place."

"Here's my card," Ria pushed one at Shade as the limo door was opened by a servant. She slunk into the back seat and crossed her sleek legs, flipping over the card once the door was closed.

"If anything should happen that needs my notice, call me. If things go bad, call me so I can fix them. There are matters that my father will not be happy with should anything happen with Moka. You _will_ call me before he finds out so I can perform any necessary damage control."

Shade tapped the card against her chin, glancing over it at Ria. "And should I need you for a more personal matter?"

"Don't be a fool, it doesn't suit you." Ria informed her.

The Arch Succubus smirked and tucked the card into her bosom. "Being passionate isn't the same as being foolish Ria-chan."

"Not everyone has your lack of self control," Ria said with proudly. "Some of us actually have self respect."

"Of course," she sounded amused.

"Besides, you still have a bet to try and win." Ria's eyes weighed her rival's will. "Do you still think you can?"

"Does it matter?" Shade surprised her by laughing and then folding her hands over the edge of the door, resting her chin on fingers. "I don't find the idea of serving you for a day so horrible if it comes to that, Ria-chan."

Ria didn't miss the slightly sarcastic tone Shade put in her name and honorific.

"You will if you lose." She said frostily. "You don't know how unpleasant I can make things for you."

"Pity," Shade pouted girlishly, "I had nothing but fun things planned for you if you lost."

"Then do your best and don't lose."

Shade waved her fingers at Ria as the limo pulled away.

Another limo was pulling in behind and the door was opened for the striking Vampire Elder coming out of the door.

"Father," Ria curtsied to him gracefully.

"So your friend Shade is on her way?" He inquired, noticing the dark limo turn out of the gates almost a mile down the road.

"She is, but I do _not_ consider her my friend." She responded with a little bit of emotion. "We have a small business relationship that requires me to be a little," she pondered for the correct word, "lenient."

Lord Akashiya was a moment before he spoke, "You normally don't bring people to my home, daughter. In fact, you have yet to bring anyone here be they friend business associate or lover, and yet you brought her. Why is that?"

Ria smoothed the hair from her face over her shoulder to consider that. She had lost control of herself at the reception and needed help. _Why did I get involved? _Ria suddenly wondered. Why had she brought Shade here where she could do the most damage to not only her reputation, but her existence in general? She could have ended that outrageous woman's life several times, but hadn't. _I've killed people for far less, why did I spare her?_

The answer was so obvious Ria smiled to herself.

"I don't have many playthings who are completely unafraid of me. She amuses me."

"Even after what you did to her?" Her father asked with mild curiosity.

Ria nodded. "She allowed me to torture and humiliate her just so she could get closer to me." The vampire chuckled softly. "Though I suspect she rather enjoyed the whole act. Still, she was not afraid, and that makes her interesting."

"Those who don't fear us are fools and need to learn their proper places, daughter." He chided mildly.

"You are right as always father, but she entertains me and she is very much like me in her own way."

"So be it, daughter, but don't disappoint me. In fact," he turned to walk into the limo as a servant opened the door. "Make sure she comes to my chambers when she returns. I'll have a chat with Moka-chan tomorrow to clear up whether or not I should consider taking her as a lover."

_He's serious about having her even after all that? And he'd take Moka's opinion into consideration over mine? _Ria frowned at mention of her little sister. "What of my thoughts in this matter?"

"I already know your opinion. After all," he looked back at her through the window of the limo with an amused smile. "Had you not wanted her here, you could have simply killed her."

"I still might," Ria pointed out.

"Not without my permission," he said as the limo drove off, and he called off loud enough for her to hear. "You are not the only one interested now."

Ria Sakitan watched her father exit past the mansion gates and a whole gaggle of servants waited to do her bidding. Cleansing her mind with a deep exhale, she walked back into the grand hall of her father's home and picked up the first phone she saw. Punching a few numbers till the other end of the line was ringing, a voice answered sleepily, "Hello?"

"Good morning, Tsukune my dear brother. How is my itouto?" Ria answered in a sweet, sing song voice.

A pause on the other end made her smile.

"You're not still mad at me, are you? Oh me oh my, we're family now so we should put that little incident behind us." Ria told him.

"What do you want, Ria?" His voice was still friendly, but held a slight edge that spoke volumes of how much he still distrusted her.

That put an even bigger smile on her dark red lips knowing she could still affect his life so.

"Oh, you must have woken up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. What happened? My darling sister not perform well for you? Was your wedding night a disappointment? You know you can call me anytime and I will put a smile on your face." She voiced naughtily, brushing her fingers over the longs dark locks hanging over her eyes.

"I'm hanging up now if there's nothing important you need to tell me."

"I'm just being friendly, little brother," Ria chuckled lightly into the receiver, "and I _do _have some news that may mend things between us."

There was another brief pause.

"Do you want to know why my little sister came rushing into your arms at the reception before you two left for your honeymoon?"

"You know?" Tsukune's startled response made her chuckle.

"The question is, do you, my little brother?"

"She won't say exactly," he muttered uncomfortably.

"Oh me, oh my, hiding secrets from her husband already. My little sister is a rather bad girl on her first day of marriage, isn't she? Well, I've never hidden secrets from you, Tsukune-dear. Remember, if you ever want to have someone be brutally honest with you and curl your toes-"

"That's fine, Ria," Tsukune interjected, trying to ignore Ria's blatant propositions. "If Moka-chan didn't want to tell me then she must have her own reasons."

The dark haired beauty frowned. He was completely forgiving and trusting of her. _He really does lover her...bastard_, she thought.

"But you _do_ want to know, don't you?" The line was silent as Tsukune did not try to deny it. "Well, that's fine, certainly _I_ would want to know if someone hurt the person I was in love with."

"Hurt? What do you mean?" His voice was filled with worry. "Someone hurt Moka?" Ria could hear his little outburst get Moka's attention from somewhere and she asked him if everything was alright in the background. He called out that he needed to excuse himself and took the phone somewhere outside.

"What happened?" he asked, concern and anger clear in his masculine voice.

She purred at that timbre licking her ear and her senses. He really was a man and she remembered every single time she forced him between her legs and the flavor of him still tickled her lips. Ria really would not mind another go with him, be it forced or willing, it didn't matter. She knew, better than anyone, that even for someone as skilled as Shade Tsukune would be a most difficult target.

And she had no intention at all of helping her.

"Well, you remember when Moka came out of the lady's room?" She began, and then spilled the facts to a shocked stupid Tsukune on the other line.

Ria might not be allowed to kill or wound Shade without her father's permission, but those rules would not apply to her little sister or her darling husband. Should either of them decide to end Shade's life it would in no way reflect back on her. Personally she doubted Moka or Tsukune would ever go that far, especially given she was Kurumu's aunt. At the very least though the Arch Succubus's arrogance could be knocked down a few notches and she would lose the bet.

There was no reason for her to make it easy for her, was there? After all, Ria had always believed in doing whatever it took to win.


	9. Ch9 I am your husband

The small secluded wooden cottage that Moka and Tsukune Aono had decided to spend their honeymoon at was ideal. It was a picturesque country escape far from all the commotion and worries of the real world. A river flowed just a few hundred yards away where mallards and an occasional swan came to tread in its clear waters. Large pines spotted the green earth here and there, a red bricked path threaded through the wild flowers growing between the open patches of grass. Each soft breeze brought the scent of jasmine and other flora, the chirping of birds and the rustling of the wind through the grass was the only sound. A glorious sunrise painted the sky all sorts of pinks and reds and oranges, it was a wonder for every one of the senses.

Moka would have liked to have taken a walk with Tsukune and made plans to do so later. For right now she would think about what to do for lunch and about perhaps sitting on the porch and watching the sunset. Nothing more than having him here with her was needed to make this place paradise. They could have spent the whole day just lying in bed together with only their wedding rings on and that would have been just fine with her. She smiled to herself, maybe that would be the agenda for tomorrow. Just stay in bed and spend the whole day making slow unhurried love. No worries about family issues, meddling sisters, perverted witches, horny succubi, or anything else. Just the two of them satisfying each other and exploring their new bonds as husband and wife.

Then she remembered they had incited Shade to join them. She suddenly saw her perfect image of a loving couple lounging in their marriage bed turn into a threesome with an over aggressive succubus writhing between her and her husband.

Moka shook her head and wondered just why she had agreed to accept Shade's offer. Was she really _that_ concerned about her ability to please him? The evening before Tsukune had tried to ask her about Shade and the weird request of her joining them for lessons in love making. The look on his face had been one of embarrassment, he obviously was not comfortable with the idea, and even pouted that he thought he was doing everything alright. But she convinced him that she thought him an excellent lover and simply wanted both of them to enjoy their lovemaking as much as possible. Who better to help with that than an arch succubus? She could tell he was not entirely convinced and needed a little more coaxing.

He asked her again what had happened to bring her near to tears and about the very strong scent of pheromones, but she had managed to divert him. After some pouting and simpering, it was all too easy to get Tsukune to see things her way. They were both focused on their wedding night and let the matter drop.

Last night she knew there was such a thing as God, because her whole heart and her soul were filled in ways she could not imagine. She hoped that when the time came to become a mother, it would be a night like that one, and that the two of them would share many _many _more such times.

So she was startled to see anger when Tsukune came back from answering a phone call.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Tsukune demanded, his voice tight with frustration and anger. "Why didn't you tell me what happened with you and Shade in the bathroom?"

Outer Moka flinched a little, but remained silent. She wasn't used to having Tsukune being angry with her. She definitely hadn't thought this would be how their honeymoon would begin.

She remained quiet, hoping to avoid the subject altogether as she set the table. She placed down the plates and utensils for the two of them then turned to the stove where French toast were cooking on a griddle and two pitchers of fruit juices waited to be poured, one guava and the other orange juice.

The favored Akashiya daughter didn't need her inner self's warning to know Tsukune was rounding the table; his presence was almost harsh as he approached her with an urgency and seriousness she normally associated with battle. She didn't want to fight! All she really wanted was to enjoy her honeymoon with her beloved. They'd been through so many battles together, endured so much to finally reach this point. They were newlyweds on their honeymoon; she wanted to leave the events between herself and Kurumu's aunt in that pristine lady's room and nowhere else. It was her own way of protecting Tsukune and that happiness they had fought so hard to gain.

There had been other times she had been forced to keep secrets from him. She didn't like doing that, but her darling was a very moral and upright man. That was one of the things she loved most about him. He still didn't understand that there were certain situations where the best course of action was simply to leave things alone. This side of herself was not used to dealing with Tsukune's stubbornness or his onslaught of questions. Moka also didn't like the tone he was using with her; she could tell her inner self was even more unhappy with it. _Why do we have to spend the first full day of our married life arguing? _She wondered.

Outer Moka was always willing and ready to do as Tsukune asked; she would eagerly put herself in danger for his sake. The pink haired Akashiya daughter always considered herself blessed that someone like him had come into her life. He accepted what she was and had never blamed her for what her vampire blood had done to him. Her Tsukune honestly loved her and thought she was special, not because of her physical beauty, her name, her wealth, or even her power. He had loved her because of who she was. The boy was so kind, so patient, so willing to protect her and throw his fragile existence in harm's way just because he cared, and that alone made him precious to her.

How many times had she wept at the thought that she had lost him? How many times had she felt relief when he survived another attack that left a part of her soul aching. How many sacrifices had they made for each other just so they could be together? She couldn't even imagine her life without him now; he meant that much to her.

She wondered if humans knew how to love as vampires did. They spoke of 'forever' so easily, but did they _truly _understand what it meant to be loved through the centuries? Was it possible for the human imagination to even comprehend an almost infinite amount of adoration and yearning for ages on end? Looking at Tsukune's face right now made her question, just the tiniest bit, if what they felt could really last forever.

"Would you like orange juice or guava? I think the orange juice is a little bitter for jams, but if you add a little champagne we can make a mimosa. Perhaps some of the.."

She had her best smile and turned to him with a pitcher in both hands, his long shirt was the only thing she was wearing right now. She didn't get to finish when Tsukune took it from her hands and almost slammed it down on the counter with a thud.

Moka winced at the harsh look on his face, it didn't appear he would let this drop.

"Tsukune," she whispered fearfully, looking at the haunted and angry brown eyes as his arms trapped her against the counter. She touched his shoulders, rubbing her thumbs around his neck to try and calm him, quiet the obvious rage that was building in him. When she leaned forward to kiss him, hoping her lips and body would sooth him he slowly backed away, his eyes still glaring down at her.

"Answer me," he said quietly. "Why didn't you tell me what really happened?"

Her lips parted to dissuade him from asking, but he shook his head before a word was uttered. He knew her very well and she was becoming increasingly disappointed that she would keep trying to evade the question.

Her Tsukune had never been so upset with her before and it left her only one option, because she knew only too well she would give in to him and explain everything, but not before she broke down in tears. There was only one way for her to avoid that.

Pink haired Moka looked up at Tsukune apologetically, knowing what she was about to do was very cowardly but necessary..

Plink.

The rosario came off in her small hand and a rush of demonic energy filled the cabin, causing the nearby wildlife to flee in natural terror.

Tsukune took a step back and let the aura of Inner Moka saturate the room, knowing she was doing this to make him a little wary of his posture towards her. He watched as her body became fuller, her breasts pushing the buttons of his shirt farther apart to almost snapping, her hair glossing from pink to silver, and her eyes darken from jade green to slitted crimson. Her apologetic look became one meant for a regal queen about to give sentence.

"You are going to kiss me 'good morning'," Inner Moka said firmly, just a touch of threat lacing her words. "Then we're going to sit down and enjoy a pleasant breakfast, Tsukune. However, I will _not_ answer your question."

She kissed his lips, noticing he did not return the gesture, and moved to finish preparing their breakfast expecting him to allow her to act as though nothing were out of place. When he caught her by the wrist she turned to him with a dangerous look. She was truly surprised to see his anger mirroring her own.

Silver haired Moka narrowed her eyes in displeasure, her lips pinching in annoyance at his audacity. He had _never_ gripped her like this.

"I love you, Moka-chan," he whispered softly, achingly in a way that melted the serious and austere Inner Moka.

It was a beautiful thing to see, one that rivaled Outer Moka's innocent beaming.

"I love you as well, my darling, my husband. I accept your apology," she touched his face and noticed he still looked sad. "Let's get the toast off the griddle before they burn, hmm?"

Still looking at her, he moved his hand and turned off the griddle, then came back to keep her from moving.

"I love you, Moka-chan," he said again, "but I'm not apologizing. I'm telling you so that you can understand that I had to find out from your sister, Ria, that Shade assaulted you in the lady's room," his voice lowered deeply, angrily, "Why didn't you tell me?"

This time she did push his hand away and there was little he could do to stop her from going to the griddle and serving herself and him some french toast and then reaching for two glasses to be filled.

It was obvious he was testing her pride, something he knew was that was at the very heart of who she was. When they'd first met her pride had kept them apart and caused her to strike him on more than one occasion. Their experiences together and her feeling for him had blunted some of the sharper edges, but he had no illusions that it could still cut.

"You are not an idiot, Tsukune," She growled, still trying to keep her temper in check, but showing him that she was going to relent just a little, for his sake and his sake only. "I want you to think about what you are asking, who you are asking, and, above all, how you are asking it. I really believe this is something that is best left alone. Now join me and enjoy the breakfast I have cooked for you."

Frowning, he watched her pour a glass of guava for herself and for him, then set the plates accordingly and sat down, obviously expecting him to follow suit.

He watched her go through the motions he'd enjoyed since they'd been friends in high school. Inner Moka watched him under those dark lashes, the turn of her brows silently demanding that he do as she wished or else face the consequences.

That it didn't bring him instantly to heel was proof that her Tsukune had indeed changed from the boy she remembered. Both in body and in spirit he was a man now and not the sort who would be easily dominated. Sometimes, like now, that made things difficult, but she was still pleased to see it. It was proof that he really was strong enough to be her mate.

"Okay," he said quietly, noticing that Inner Moka seemed relived, nodding to his acquiescence. He rounded the table slowly, and knelt down next to her hip and took her hands into his own, kissing them tenderly, lovingly.

This brought a very pretty smile to the silver haired vampiress, but it would not last as long as she hoped.

"Lets think about it then," he continued, even when her eyes narrowed angrily. "You said I was asking incorrectly, so is this better? I don't care how you tell me, Moka-chan, but I _NEED_ to know."

Her fangs peeked out from under her top lip when she hissed slowly, looking away from him. "And then what, Tsukune? If I had told you what would have happened? Were you going to attack her at the reception in front of all your family? In front of all those humans would you have exposed who and what we are? What about our friends, my family, my father above all? What do you think _he _would have done if he found out the truth? Have you even considered the consequences of that? Do you even know what the mitigating actions would be if something like that would happen? It would be close to having the Lilith's mirror exposed all over again in high school, but this time in your world. At the very _best _our lovely reception would have been ruined and what was a beautiful memory for our loved ones permanently spoiled. And what about Kurumu? What would it have done to her to see her destined one attack her aunt?"

Tsukune cautiously nodded, understanding her line of thought, but there was still one more thing he had to ask, "But you didn't tell me after wards, Moka-chan. Not in the car, not last night, and not this morning. That woman is coming here in a few hours and you kept this from me. She is going to come here and touch you again, touch me and you think this is something that we can just play along with and _not_ do anything about? Why would you do this to us?"

Scowling, she turned to him, "It wasn't done to _us_, Tsukune, it was done to _me_ and it was _my_ choice to keep silent about it." She hissed darkly, her tone was that of when they first met and lacking any affection. At the moment she was the proud vampire and nothing else. "_~I~_ have decided this, now I don't want to hear anymore about it. Sit down and eat your breakfast, Tsukune. I don't want to argue with you any more on our first day of marriage. Just accept the issue is over."

He didn't respond right away, but it was clear some part of him had been defeated by her words.

"I'm your husband," he said simply, plainly, but his eyes held all the hurt that she had seen once before a long while ago. It was when Ria had taken him from her and used him to her hearts delight and sent him back to her with his spirit and pride in tatters. The only thing that saved them that day was their love for each other, but it had left a wound that had never completely healed. She couldn't help but feel something stab her heart.

She _hated _causing him more pain.

"There is no you and I anymore or just your word, Moka-chan. There is us and only us. Especially when it comes to your body and what someone else will do with it against your will."

"Sit down and eat, Tsukune. Now," she could not keep the heat out of her voice, the one that she used on him many times before they became lovers. It was also her own way of keeping her own emotions from being exposed. She knew she had hurt him, but she could not allow him to have this kind of control over her. Yes, he was her husband and he was now permanently a part of her, but that did not mean he could demand answers she did not want to give.

"No," he stood up with a defeated sigh. "I'm not very hungry at the moment."

"Fine," she started to cut into her french toast, looking at anywhere else instead of him. Her butter knife stabbed clean through it. Before she could put the piece in her mouth she heard his departing steps and the front door opening and closing softly, as not to disturb her breakfast.

Her heart thumped loudly in her own ears, and her breathing took a quicker pace as if she was in the midst of another life and death situation. She didn't hear her fork fall onto the ceramic plate and she didn't hear anything in the suddenly lonely cottage. Looking down at the quaintly prepared table with a flawless cooked breakfast, she couldn't help but stare at Tsukune's empty place and wonder how things could go wrong so quickly.

It reminded her of her life back at Akashiya Castle where everything was perfect and she had everything she could possibly ask for materialistically. And where she'd always felt alone and unloved. Without her Tsukune, it felt like just another day in that empty but beautiful cage.

She looked down at the wedding ring that encircled her finger with the large diamond engagement ring aligned next to it.

Tsukune had not liked it. He said it was too elaborate and fancy, but her father insisted upon it, saying it was her mother's and that she had left it behind. The fact that it was her mother's was all she needed to hear. Batting her eyes and lighting up a smile was all she needed to do to change his mind and agree that it would indeed look good on her.

Moka knew that she was a lot to deal with compared to all the other girls who had thrown themselves at him constantly. And, though it was a bit selfish, she was glad that she had injected her blood into him. A part of her was with him and always would be, they were the same flesh just as she was certain a part of her soul was his as well. It would be impossible for her to cherish him or need him more than she already did. But he still did not understand what it meant for him to demand answers from her.

She was a vampire and would bend to no one save her father.

_I'm your husband,_ he said in a voice that was wounded and yet possessive.

Moka had no idea what it really meant to be a wife, let alone a wife to someone born human. She had ideas, fanciful ones, from being exposed to their culture for so long and from what her mother had told her when she was growing up.

Her mother, she thought, thinking about why her mother left her to her father and then just simply disappeared.

Something fell on her lap. She looked down to see a dark spot on Tsukune's shirt that she was wearing.

A tear.

She realized something and decided to test something of herself.

Standing up, she walked over to the bedroom, took off his shirt and threw it on the bed that was heavy with their scents of lovemaking, sweat, and memories. Closing the door with nothing on but her plain white panties, she closed the door and sat herself down at the table again, letting her senses expand so that she could take everything in.

Tsukune's scent was getting fainter and fainter by the minute. She didn't realize how much that scared her, because she was still wearing his shirt and now that it was gone there was precious little to remind her that he was ever in the room except for a plate of food that he hadn't even touched.

_This is what it would almost be like if he were gone_, she thought to herself morbidly. It was the same way with her mother when she had left. She could no longer sense her, feel her, smell her. It didn't happen all at once, but little by little she had disappeared and become nothing but a memory.

She could still remember her father having the staff search for her and finding her laying in her mother's closet with all her clothes piled on the floor and she asleep on top of them. It was as close to her mother as she could get, and in time even the scents faded away and were gone.

Moka knew she was being foolish to link Tsukune and her mother in the same category. Her mother had been terribly unhappy and felt unloved and unneeded. Surely Tsukuine would **never **feel that way. What could one little argument matter compared to everything they'd been through together?

"Tsukune won't leave me," she wiped a second tear that fell down her cheek. "Not for this."

Even though she knew it was silly to say something like this, she didn't believe it even when it came out from her own mouth.


	10. Ch10 An Impolite Greeting

Ch10 The Bet

The dark limo had pulled onto the dirt road that lead to the isolated cottage out among acres upon acres of green grass, and pine trees. It was just past one thirty when the driver called to his passenger that the little place was in sight. Shade looked herself over with her pocket mirror and frowned at the ragged lacerations and punctures to her neck. She knew that a touch of her own magical energy could have healed it without a trace. She had been considering it ever since she woke up; having such an ugly mark on her body ran counter to everything she believed in as a succubus and as a woman. But after seeing the reaction from the Lord Akashiya, she decided that Ria's mark might prove a useful prop if the situation called for it. Her pride was strong enough to stand a little ugly bruise if it helped her win her bet.

She snapped shut her mirror with a 'click', and called out, "Thank you, driver." She allowed herself to ponder how best to approach Tsukune and his pretty pink haired bride. She needed to calm them and win over their trust in order to make the first session a success. She knew both of them were genuinely devoted to the other, which would make things more challenging. She also knew that both Tsukune and Moka had concerns over not being able to truly satisfy their mate, that was a vulnerability she would have to exploit.

Carefully and slowly, it was not wise to anger vampires after all. Her right hand rubbed the wound on her throat. Now, it was just a matter of how to get them on her side.

She had several ideas already in mind. There were so many ways to simply seduce a man with a woman's body. It was ingrained in their DNA to respond, after all. However, Tsukune had already seen more than his share of willing naked flesh. He had even had enough self control to turn down her own niece after all! He was one of those very rare men whose morals ran deep, one of the very few who really did want nothing more than the one woman he professed to love.

She chuckled to herself, amused that such a man still existed in this day and age. He really was remarkable. That was the whole reason she had become interested in him in the first place.

_It is going to be fun winning this bet_, she mused.

"We're here," The driver called out, stopping the limo.

Shade looked out her door to see a silhouette of a man performing katas, his shirt was off and sweat gleamed off his masculine built frame. A large 'X' covered his chest; it was far from the only scar on his body. The scars did not detract from his appearance. On the contrary she thought they gave him a rough and dangerous look that made her purr. He was so focused on his workout that he didn't seem to notice the limo's approach, which amused her even more.

_The boy is dedicated_, she pondered.

The driver opened the door for her and she stepped out carefully, accepting the offered hand of the driver.

The sound of the cottage door opening caught her attention, turning her head to see Moka's frightful glare focused on her. This was not the pink haired version she had molested in the ladies' room. This Moka had silver hair and slitted red eyes, a vampire in all her glory. Shade pushed her sunglasses further up her nose and gave the young bride a warm smile.

"Am I late?" She made a show of looking at her watch.

It read 1:56 PM.

Moka said nothing; she simply stared at the Arch Succubus with her arms crossed over her chest. She had on a simple tan sundress and eyes that were malicious and hostile. Shade could sense her hostility even from the drive way.

The driver noticed it as well and turned back to his passenger. "Should I stay or take you back, miss?"

Shade touched her fingers to her lips, considering, and then called out airily, "That will not be necessary. Please, tell the Lord Akashiya that I will call him when I need a ride back. Thank you."

Moka's eyes widened at the mention of her father's name, but narrowed again when Shade returned the vampires piercing stare with a mild look of her own. The driver returned to his limo and the sound of gravel crunching under tires announced his departure. The Arch Succubus decided at that moment to approach Inner Moka, unafraid, calm, and bereft of any fear.

"Now this is the real you, isn't it, dear? Kurumu has told me so much about this 'you'. You're quite striking." Shade complimented, her eyes flowing over Inner Moka's more defined figure. She appraised her over just as a man might have.

"What does my father have to do with you?" Inner Moka growled. Her fingers twitched and her jaw was aching in her desire to put this arrogant succubus in her place.

"Nothing," Shade offered dismissively, "Everything." She twirled her finger in the air as if tossing up the idea. "Who knows? Your father is clearly a man with many interests. Who can say if he finds me interesting? One of his interests is to ensure you are treated well though. He took special care to let me know _that_ in particular." She approached Moka, placing herself well within her personal space, breathing in her scent and leaning against her, trapping her between the walls of the cottage and herself. "He really does look at you differently than he does your eldest sister, doesn't he?"

Moka's eyes flared open. Just the sound of both her father and her sister being involved somewhat made her hand grip Shade's throat in a blink.

Shade crumbled under the grip, her body quaking in acute pain. She clutched Moka's wrist weakly, barely offering any resistance.

"Moka, what are you doing!? You're going to kill her!" Tsukune witnessed the confrontation between Shade and Moka. He saw Moka snatch the older and taller woman by the neck and looked ready to rip her throat out. He could feel his wife's fury and it frightened him.

Yes, he was a man who believed in justice and that Shade should pay for what she had done to his wife. However justice needed to be measured, otherwise it became nothing but a personal vendetta where one wrong only led to another. Ria was all too eager to deliver her family's justice in its cruelest form and he had witnessed it more then he would have liked. It scared him to believe that Moka was on the cusp of doing the same.

Shade must answer for what she did, but not like this.

Inner Moka was about give her a strong dose of her mind when she noticed blood seeping between her fingers. She released the hold on Shade and watched her brace herself as she staggered up against the wall, her breath coming out in weak pants. Moka hadn't expected an Arch Succubus to be so fragile.

Even Kurumu was stronger enough to be handled with more vigor.

"We," Shade gasped, her hands covering her bloodied throat with her fingers, "really should come up with a safe word before we get started, hmm?"

Though her tone was playful, there was no doubt the blood dripping down the front of her dress was real.

Tsukune pushed, literally _pushed_, Moka out of the way to get to their visitor, earning an angry glare from his wife that he could feel on the back of his neck. Moving Shade's hair out of the way, he saw the nasty gash in her neck that Moka had obviously not caused. A surprised sound came from the young husband, shocked at the horrific wound. Without saying a word, he scooped up Shade and took her into their little cottage. Moka, still unaware of what her husband had spotted, followed him with her glare, giving the closed door the most disapproving look she could muster.

She counted to ten several times over, listening to the sound of Tsukune running around in the house to do all he could to help Shade. Moka knew she had not caused that wound, she could tell with just one close look that Ria had. This made her all the more suspicious about two things. Why had the succubus come here injured like that? She could have postponed their little session easily enough. Secondly, _why_ had Ria's delivered such a wound to her ally? A vampire could drink blood without leaving more than a slight bruise. (If that had not been the case Tsukune likely would have died from his injuries during their first week together. His blood was sooooo good.) Obviously Ria had _chosen_ to leave a wound there. Why? Just what sort of twisted game were the two of them playing?

Be that as it may, all she knew, at this moment, was that her husband was inside the house where they were supposed to be enjoying their honeymoon making love, eating whatever they wanted, and sleeping in to their hearts delight. Instead, he was taking care of another woman. Regardless of the circumstances that was not something she could be happy about.

Shaking her head, she had only one thing to say about this.

"She's good."

Opening the door with a little more force then what was necessary, she stormed into the house ready to take on the challenge presenting itself.

Caro Shade.


	11. Ch11 Dangerous Potentials

Moka watched Tsukune carefully apply a bandage to Shade's neck.

Shade played her part well, appearing as the helpless victim in need of rescue. It pierced through Tsukune's anger and into his heart; as usual he was putting his own worries on the back burner in order to help someone else. Though his face, especially his eyes, were grim he never stopped doing what needed to be done to clean and treat Shade's wound.

Inner Moka saw through this little charade instantly, though. She noticed the little things that Tsukune missed. Shade's back was arched a little more than what would be natural; that was to offer him a better view of her cleavage. Her lips were parted just so; as if to invite a kiss. Her breath came out in just the right kind of purr to sound wounded, yet feminine. Even the way her exposed thighs were closed in a demure way as if embarrassed to offer a glimpse up her smooth legs and the delicate feminine treasure that was not concealed with underpants. That the girl wasn't wearing underwear proved to her that Moka knew that this succubus wasn't big on modesty, and given what Shade had done in the Ladies' room she didn't really believe the woman had _any _shame. Her choker with its little silver chain and opened lock dangling, glittering between her breasts offered a nice point to lure the eyes.

Oh yes, she was good, Moka thought sourly.

* * *

Tsukune had hurried over to help without bothering to put his shirt back on. Shade's half lidded eyes trailed up the masculine sinewy arms, Tsukune's flexed neck, broad shoulders, and chiseled chest. His scent was, indeed, delicious. She could smell the musky aroma of his sweat. She could feel the hostility that was still there just beneath the surface. His anger remained quite strong even as he tended to her with those gentle hands. He was in so much conflict that Shade knew it was only going to take a slight push one way or the other to make him either truly sympathetic or openly hostile.

She would have to be much more subtle with him then she had been with Moka. In a way that excited her, normally men reacted to any slight hint that she was available. It was the few men like Tsukune (and Lord Akashiya) who made things interesting.

* * *

"How do you feel?" He asked through once he had finished bandaging her. His tone was polite enough but his eyes were cool and suspicious.

She touched her neck where the bandage was. "It's a little loose, but I think it will do. Thank you."

"I'll tighten it for you," Moka hissed. Her hands were twitching, eager to put both of them around her neck again. Tsukune casually stepped in front of her so that he was between her and her intended target.

"Why are you protecting her?" Moka demanded. "You were angry enough about this situation this morning."

He didn't flinch, but remained calm. "She is wounded and she's not trying to hurt anyone. She's not a threat right now. If anything you're the one who grabbed her by the neck and reopened her wound. So you would be the only dangerous one at the moment."

"What?!" Moka almost roared at Tsukune. "You said it yourself; she attacked me at the reception! You heard it from Ria and I confirmed it. You stomped out of this house because you were upset at what she did."

Tsukune watched his vampire wife look ready to chew steel and spit nails at him, but he calmly replied, "You're wrong, Moka-chan. I was upset that _you_ didn't tell _me_. _You _decided to keep secrets from me like you did back when we were in high school."

The long silver haired vampiress could only stare mutely at her husband. This was not an unfamiliar road she's crossed with him. If only he could accept that the things she hid from him were for his own good. It would seem there was some residual resentment for it and this was not the time or the place to rehash those reasons, in Moka's eyes.

"You said over breakfast that you didn't want her here." Moka growled between clenched teeth, bringing up another issue.

"But, for some reason, _you_ choose to openly invite her here in front of our friends and myself. I assume you did so _'after_' she touched you in the ladies room?"

"Yes, she did." Shade called out from the couch, shifting to a more comfortable position.

"Shut up!" Moka snapped at her, earning an amused smirk from their guest.

"If that was the case, then why did you invite her, Moka-chan? Why did you give her the address to our little cottage and suggest she join us on our _honeymoon_? Why would you do that when she did something so horrible to you?"

He tried to approach her, touch her, but at the moment she was so angry she wanted distance and time to rethink her current position. She tried to keep her expression calm and just slightly aloof, but the slight color on her cheek and neck, and the way she narrowed her eyes at Shade indicated she was anything but calm. She looked ready to pounce like a hungry wolf set to devour a rabbit. That she held back at all was only due to Tsukune.

"May I speak, Tsukune-sama?" Shade asked quietly, wincing as she moved to get up from her prone position on the couch to a seated one. She tucked her legs under her and lounged against the arm and back cushions to get comfortable. She did not appear worried in the least about having an angry vampire not ten feet from her.

He turned dark eyes towards Shade, nodding slowly. It was obvious his wife wasn't going to tell him her reasons, so it was up to Shade to tell him _something _of what was really going on here.

"Thank you, Tsukune-sama." She touched her hand over her heart and bowed her head just the tiniest bit. "The reason I'm here is not just to teach you about how to become better lovers, but to give you back what Ria took from you."

Tsukune frowned at that bit of information, looking at his wife for some kind of denial or objection.

Moka remained silent; still looking furious but unwilling to reply or add anything.

"And what did she take from me." He squared his shoulders, ready to defend himself against any kind of wild accusation.

"Your pride, Tsukune-sama." She whispered the word with sincerity.

"My what?" He blinked, a little confused at the direction she was going. "You assaulted my wife and forced your way into our honeymoon so that you could rebuild my pride? Are you fucking crazy?" His fists trembled at his sides, his eyes large and angry; she was in serious danger of being attacked by two angry vampires.

"Am I?" Shade considered, rolling her eyes up and then tapping her tapered nails of her fingers at her temple before returning Tsukune's outraged look with a calm one of her own. "That's debatable. However, it is true that Ria took your pride isn't it?"

"This is so stupid I can't even believe it." He began, but noticed that Moka was looking less angry and more uncomfortable.

"You don't think that, do you?" Tsukune asked his wife with a bit of heat. It was ridiculous! "Tell me, you don't really think…"

"Watch your tone with me, Tsukune!" Moka snapped, glowering her viper red slitted eyes at him, she directed some of her anger at him too. "It didn't happen to _me_ in the bathroom, Tsukune, but to my other Outer self. Had this woman approached _me_ like she did we would not be suffering this conversation. I would have put her through a wall in the next building just for assuming she could."

Shade agreed with the silver hair vampire with a nod, but added with her own amused lilt that only stoked Moka's quiet rage, "But does that really have anything to do with the reason I was invited in the first place? The two of you are the same person right? You both think and feel the same way even if one is meeker than the other."

Tsukune could hear Inner Moka's claws start to lengthen as did her fangs. She looked animalistic and just on the brink of frenzy; however she had no verbal response to offer. She didn't try to deny it.

Shade turned her head to Tsukune, who was focused wholly on his wife. He knew it was just a matter of time before he would have to step in to keep her from physically attacking Shade. Whatever she had done she had been invited here and was already wounded, attacking her now could not be justified.

"Why did you do this to us?" Tsukune almost choked on the words, frustration and anger in his voice. He couldn't believe what he was being subjected on the first day of his marriage with the girl he had dreamed about, longed for, lived for, and almost died for. Somehow or other he was about to protect the woman who instigated all this from the person who was more precious to him than anything in the world.

Wincing, she got herself back on her feet and fearlessly stood between Moka and Tsukune. She had her back to Moka and looked deeply, intimately into Tsukune's chocolate brown eyes. "Why else do any of us in our world do what we do, Tsukune-sama? Because we are monsters, it's who we are. It's what I am."

Now it was Tsukune who growled angrily, pulling off his own rosario at his wrist and soaked up the crimson youkai energy that Moka's blood infused him with. His dark brown hair faded to purest silver, his eyes a scarlet crimson with serpent vertical slits. His skin paled to almost translucent and his young boy's visage became that of a regal immortal.

He was utterly breathtaking to Shade and she was not ashamed to grow weak in the knees at his presence. He was the same beauty as Moka's father and she almost wept at the privilege of being granted this pleasure.

However, it did not come without a cost.

CHOMP!

Tsukune latched his deadly fangs into the unwounded side of her neck, gripping her cheek with one hand and ripping off the bandage he had placed just a moment ago with the other.

"AAaah!" Shade groaned, but not in agony. She wobbled unsteadily in his grip, but felt him tremble with visible weakness. He wasn't drinking her blood, but giving her a bit of his.

"Tsukune, what the hell are you doing?!" Moka shrieked in outrage, dashing over to him and shoving them both apart till he fell onto the floor and Shade back onto the couch.

He panted a little, weakened by the exchange, but still strong enough to bring himself back to his feet and stare unapologetically at Moka. For a vampire to give their blood was considered the highest honor, the greatest gift one could offer. That, however, was not the reason why he gave the small bit to Shade.

Like some kind of grotesque wound reversal, her skin knitted over itself and healed, showing off a flawless delicate neck that had only two small puncture wounds remaining where Ria had left her mark. After a few minutes those too would vanish completely.

"You are healed now, succubus." Tsukune's voice caught deep in his chest, pained and angry at the very person who did this to him, to them. "I want to fight you. I want you to be in perfect health when we go outside and I put a pain into your heart that you put between Moka-chan and I."

Shade rubbed her neck, amused and almost lightheaded with the burst of energy flowing through her, like a sampling of lava that released a chaotic energy she could barely contain within herself. The succubus felt significantly better after that little infusion. It wasn't enough to attempt to change her or hurt her succubus youkai, but enough to bring about a small bit of accelerated healing and strength that she did not mind in the least.

"So you want to take this to the 'parking lot' and punch it out like a man with me?" Shade sounded amused, even going as far as mocking him a little with a 'put up your dukes' playful rolling of her fists in front of her face. "Tsukune, you should know by now that as a succubus, I'm a lover not a fighter. Do you think physically beating me will fix anything? Hardly."

She turned her gaze to the smoldering glower of the silver haired Moka, "I can see why you covet your blood. It's positively sinful, like the perfect lover that can fill you from the inside out. If this is what you've felt every time you've had your way with Tsukune, I can see why you sought him out so often."

"You talk way to much, Caro Shade." Her voice trembled with longing to hurt her. Also, the mere mention that she had desired for his blood in the beginning of their relationship was a fact that had, in part, held some truth she couldn't deny. Still, that was old news and Tsukune had been more then accepting of it.

She stood up and stretched languidly, eventually, walking to the door and holding it open for the two of the other occupants. "However, since this is your wish, I will not deny you. Come; let us put this part of our relationship behind us so we can get on with things."

"We do not have a relationship!" Moka hissed, stomping right past her, eager to get her claws into the Succubus.

Tsukune was just walking past her when Shade called out, "Oh, trust me, we are bound just as deeply as any family, Aono Moka and Tsukune."

The male vampire stood under the door frame, looking down at the beautiful succubus. She was unafraid of him but clearly enamored with his dark beauty. "What do you mean?"

"My niece, my little Mumu-chan. You _are_ her destined one and therefore it's just a matter of time before you give her your child. In return, you have accepted her as _your_ mistress and all the dark secrets you have shared with her as a lover. You are indebted to her and I am in the bloodline that your child will share one day."

"And should that tie be severed?" Tsukune asked quietly, his angry posture just a little more cautious with the mention of 'dark secrets.' There were things between him and Kurumu he did _not_ want revealed. _Did she really tell her aunt the things I trusted her with? _If she had then he and Kurumu would need to seriously reevaluate where things stood between them. He wasn't sure he could have a relationship with her if he couldn't trust her.

She gave him a friendly smile. "Then I would no longer have _any_ reason to keep those secrets, would I? Though that is not what I want, it would break my little Mumu-chan's heart."

Tsukune did not miss the subtle threat.

Moka did not miss the 'dark secrets' exchange and turned her anger from Shade to her husband. He had been so upset by her trying to protect him by keeping silent about her family and other tender subjects. Had he been keeping things from her as well?

"And what bond do you share with me?" Moka asked changing the subject.

"Since your sister, Ria attempted to kill me and your father saved me, that bound us in more than one way. Wouldn't you agree, daughter of Lord Akashiya?"

"No I would not."

Shade's back straightened. "When I met your father after his rescue, we talked. One thing led into another and he told me he is going to ask you if I am suited to be one of his personal lovers."

The Aonos both blinked at the same time. Things were starting to get really complicated.

"F-father is going to take you as...as..." Inner Moka sounded downright flustered. Her father had taken several lovers that bore him children. All of her sisters were birthed from different mothers, but the idea that Moka would potentially have a half sister through this woman was inconceivable.

"With your blessing, of course." Shade said with a slight nod.

Moka's hand went to her face, confused to the point of feeling her first headache in her vampire form. For her father to accept someone on this level was more than just a passing fling or interest. This had ramifications for her that Tsukune could not begin to comprehend. This really would bring this woman into her family and, what was worse, she considered her on the same par as her cunning and scheming sister Ria.

She could potentially be Moka's step mother, however unlikely that might be. She knew her father had a taste for strong willed woman and her mother had been one of those. She also knew her mother as a person of confidence and power, but also one of grace, regal gentleness, and a strong sense of justice. It was all that as much as her physical beauty that had lured her father, the Lord of Hades to her and not the other way around. No, this 'woman' couldn't begin to compare to her mother. At best she was just a vulgar distraction… a play thing.

She could probably tolerate Shade's presence until her father grew bored with her, but that could take decades.

What made the headache even worse was that nothing about Shade indicated she was lying. So far as Moka's vampiric senses could tell she was telling the truth.

"I forbid it." She hissed, her chin raised high and eyes glowing a scarlet red.

"I can see where Lord Akashiya finds so much pride in you." She glanced at her nails, muttering something about needing a manicure. "I'm sure those are the same words he spoke when you told him you wanted Tsukune as a mate, hmm? You are starting to sound just like him. Like father like daughter, eh?"

Moka froze, unable to deny that she had, at that moment, sound just like her father. It sickened her a little more that this woman had picked on that. How could she have gotten to know him so well in such a short period of time?

"We still have to have our lessons first," Shade remarked smoothly. "Your father insists upon it."

"My father doesn't control me!" Moka barked, clearly enraged at the insinuation.

"He is your father and the man of your family. His is master of his kingdom, an Elder Lord of the Vampires and a Hades Lord of the Youkai. I think his word and expectations hold sway, dear Moka." Shade lectured in a polite tone that irritated her. "No matter how strong you are he _can_ make things difficult for you, can he not?" Shade placed just a little bit of warning into her tone.

Moka had no answer for that.

"Why did Ria try to kill you?" Tsukune asked suddenly. It was obvious that more was being revealed by talking with the succubus then pounding the living hell out of her. She was offering no resistance and had not threatened or attacked them, at least not openly. So far, she has been nothing but polite and open.

"Oh, that silly girl," Shade chuckled, touching where her neck was still tender. "Some people just don't see how lucky they are to have an arch succubus offer themselves so freely in the middle of the night. How was I supposed to know when she said, 'No one enters my bed without my permission' she was being serious? Do you have any idea how many men have said something like that to me? All the while hoping and praying I'd ignore their words. They never complained upon my visit. Quite the opposite, really. They were quite determined to not let me go and even going as far as claiming they'd leave their wives for me. So, as I was saying, I took it as an invitation. Most succubi would. I'm sure you know that all too well, don't you, Tsu-ku-ne-kun?"

Moka shot her head over to her husband and noticed the succubus had hit another point with him.

He blushed a dusty rose and his wife didn't even have to try to seek his guilt.

"Tsukune?" She raised a sliver thin eyebrow at him. "Would you mind explaining what she means by that?"

He rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Kurumu-chan would often visit me in my dorm late at night after I would tell her I couldn't have any visitors or that I only had eyes for you, Moka-chan. No matter how many times I told her that you were the only one for me and that I could not be her destined one, she would...still end up in bed with me somehow."

Now both of her eyes narrowed low on the bridge of her nose.

"I didn't do anything with her, I swear! But, she would always come to my room every now and then. You know how she is, Moka-chan," Tsukune tried to ease his wife's worry with an apologetic smile. "It was her way of expressing herself. I can promise you, on my love for you, Moka-chan, that I never did anything with her that did not involve your permission."

Sensing his sincerity, she nodded her acceptance. "I believe you, Tsukune."

She turned her eyes back to their problem at hand. "Now, as you were saying about my sister?"

"I think she was worried about how much she enjoyed my touch after our first kiss. If I'd had just a few more minutes, I think she would have been completely under my spell. If not, at least she would have been thanking me for the experience."

"You obviously don't know my sister," Moka said dryly. "Vampires, especially her, _can't_ be dominated like that," Moka grinned, amused that her sister had been 'molested' by this atrocious woman in her own bedroom. She was actually impressed that Shade had survived the encounter at all. Her sister was the cruelest of monsters, and not inclined to mercy.

"You take some awful risks for the sake of pleasure," Tsukune folded his arms over his sculpted chest, "How did you survive?"

Before Shade could answer, Moka spoke in her stead.

"She released her seal, didn't she?" Moka offered quietly.

Shade nodded. "For a second I really did think she was going to kill me. I was a guest in your lovely home, and maybe that was part of why she spared me. She did stop of her own volition; I certainly wasn't able to stop her. The next morning, though, your father was not pleased."

Moka flinched at that, even going so far as to mutter 'stupid' loud enough for them to hear. "Did you attack her in any way?"

"I was too busy enjoying the feel of her lips on my nipples and her body on me to attack her, Moka-dear, so she wasn't exactly resisting at the time. Besides, I didn't intrude onto her bed to hurt her, you should know that."

Moka's claws twitch at her sides. She really did want to skewer this woman. It was obvious her idea of _'attack_' differed from her own.

"For me to find someone whose figure and skill is different but just as magnificent as my own is a rather distracting and enjoyable feat. I would have gladly seen things to a climax and found out just what our bodies could do together." She sighed dreamily, but turned serious and lucid eyes to the silver haired Moka. "No, I did not attack her. I never intended to harm, just the opposite."

Moka did not miss the blush and almost embarrassed look on Tsukune's face when Shade mentioned Ria's body and skill, especially the part about lips on her nipples. She didn't care for that one bit.

Not. One. Bit.

"What does that mean, Moka-chan?" Tsukune turned to her curiously.

"When we're near humans we need to keep our seals on so as not to attract their attention. We were told to keep them on, especially when in father's home so as to keep our location secret and our presence discreet unless it is a dire emergency. That she did that while father was home without actually being attacked is a blatant violation of that rule. Father will severely punish _anyone_ who breaks that particular rule."

Moka even went as far as gripping her shoulders, hugging herself at the thought of her father punishing her for such an offense.

"He let her go with a warning," Shade announced airily, primping her hair a little, then pulling it over her shoulder.

Moka blinked at her. "He _warned_ her?"

Shade nodded simply.

Tsukune was a little confused. "Isn't that a good thing, Moka-chan?"

She shook her head, silver locks rippling with her movements. "My father is a very strict and unforgiving man, Tsukune." She gave him a meaningful look. "You know that."

Tsukune could only nod.

"The last time someone removed a seal inside his home, it drew a lot of attention from some nearby humans. He was forced to exterminate an entire village just to maintain our secrecy."

"That's horrible," Shade offered in sympathy. She really didn't believe in killing if she didn't have to. She was a monster, yes, but not a killer.

"What happened?" Tsukune asked softly. It was obvious that this was a reminder of just how dangerous Moka's family could be. Slaughtering a whole village just to keep the location of his castle a secret? Sadly he had no trouble believing Moka's father capable of it.

"Khalua," She responded quietly. "Khalua did it in a fit. She threw a tantrum and pulled her rosario off in the middle of a market. My father was outraged that she caused him so much trouble and punished her accordingly."

"What did he do?" Tsukune could see Moka's eyes fighting back tears to the memory.

"He took her away for a year and punished her. What he did, I can't honestly tell you, but when she came back she is how you see her now, Tsukune. Whatever happened to her, she has blocked it out because her mind can't accept it. She reverted to her childlike persona and cannot seem to really grow out of it. When she cries, it's not because she's really upset at anyone, but it's because she's remembering."

Shade couldn't see the lovely, sweet, yet simple daughter of Lord Akashiya as anything else but a loving child. This did put a sliver of fear and more respect for Moka's father into her. _What a scary family, _she thought. It was true, then, that her father did indeed know how to be cruel, even to his own flesh and blood.

"So when you say he just gave her a warning," Moka brought their attention back to her. "I find that almost impossible to believe."

Shade narrowed her eyes challenging. "Talk to your sister if you don't believe me. She hasn't been taken away or locked in a box."

Moka nodded, acknowledging that she would.

"I think the time to talk is at an end," Tsukune growled, cracking his knuckles.

His wife grinned, pleased that talk and debate were finished. This was something she was much more comfortable dealing with. What better way to express one's place, one's strength then on the field of battle? In the end this was always the way she settled her problems.

"Thank you, my husband. I have been waiting for this." She beckoned for Shade to get out from under the door frame.

"Fine, fine," Shade sighed in annoyance. "Fighting is so troublesome, but if this is what you want to do, then who am I do deny you?" She simpered past them both. "Tell me where you want to meet. I'll assume it's nowhere near your pretty home or the surrounding environs. This is such a lovely place. It would be a shame to destroy it."

"Follow the brick path till its end. There is a clearing in the middle of the forest. We'll meet you there." Tsukune felt Moka's approving hands trace his arm.

Shade nodded, but spun on her heel towards the two of them. "Since we're heading in the same direction, mind if I'm escorted by the two lovely vampires Aono? It's not often I get to be in such beautiful company."

Without a lick of fear or shame she nudged herself between husband and wife, hooking her hands between theirs playfully, as if they were going to enjoy a nice stroll to a picnic and not a bloody fight.

Moka growled, "Get your hands off me." She ripped her hand from Shade's grip.

Tsukune was more gentle as he too let go of her. "I don't think it would be a good idea to continue like this, Shade-san. I don't want you to get mixed signals as to what we're about to do."

Shade rolled her eyes and flicked her fingers at him disarmingly. "I know, I know, we're going to try and beat each other bloody. It's all just a waste of time, if you ask me. I am not blind as to what you _really _want."

As she continued to walk she put her hands about Tsukune's arm and leaned close to him. It was similar to how Kurumu liked to walk with him.

"I have one request, if you wouldn't mind granting it. Just a little something till we get to your 'battleground'." Shade tilted her head to the side demurely, offering a pleasant smile. The fact she had her breasts pressed against his arm did not go unnoticed by either him or Moka. Kurumu could get away with that but Shade was putting herself in real danger of having Moka start beating on her immediately.

He had to admit this was not at all what he'd expected from Shade after hearing what she had done. This woman hardly seemed even remotely dangerous having gone so far as being blatantly truthful and almost submissive in their presence. He still had a hard time accepting that she had assaulted Moka at the reception.

"What do you have in mind?" He tried to pull his arm away from her grip, but noticed something a little startling that reminded him, in fact, that she was a woman of power that had nothing to do with her build, grace, or generous figure.

Even in his vampire form, he couldn't pull his arm free from her this time without getting violent.

Her smile was still as suggestive, still alluring and offering as ever. He could see that her beauty and her dazzling eyes hid an almost playful disregard for his and Moka's threats. She wasn't even a little bit afraid at the prospect of having to fight _two _vampires.

Why was that? Didn't she all but crumble under Moka's grip before?

Then he realized something he should have earlier: Ria had probably drained her to near death when she sucked her blood and was probably at her weakest. Giving her some of his blood probably not only healed her of her ugly wound, but refilled her own vital power to near double her ability.

He had no idea what her base power was to begin with and that worried him a little.

Still, what monster could be the equivalent to two vampires unsealed? Moka and Kurumu had gone to ends with each other several times and Moka could easily wipe the floor with the succubus without even breaking a sweat. This would be the same, wouldn't it?

That was something he would soon find out, but at the moment he could tell she was still politely waiting for his attention so she could answer.

"A truce, from here to there. I want you to listen what I have to say. I will tell you what I did and what I mentioned to your pretty pinked haired Moka that led to this whole situation. Afterwards, once we are at your fighting grounds, the truce will end and we shall begin our little battle. Deal?"

He knew she was going to try and talk her way out of trouble. It was obvious She was good at getting her way with words and with her charming personality. He wondered if she really understood though how angry her actions had made not only his wife but him as well. Anything she had to say couldn't possibly turn those facts into something favorable, and he was curious to at least hear more of exactly what had happened and why.

She hadn't told a lie yet. Even her enemy, his wife, had agreed that what she had revealed so far had been true.

What would it hurt? Besides, he was curious as to what 'dark secrets' she was privy to that involved Kurumu.

She hadn't told her aunt 'everything', had she?

If she had, his trust in Kurumu would be destroyed. Their relationship would be permanently damaged and maybe even ruined for good. He had trusted her completely and revealed things that might lose him Moka's trust and love.

Kurumu had always wanted Moka's place as his wife, that was no secret, but would she be willing to hurt him to try and get it? She had sworn to him that she was all right with whatever time he could give her, just so long as she received some of his love and attention. She had promised him that whatever he shared with her would be their secret alone, that no one else would ever know what was said and done between her and her destined one. If all that had been a lie he didn't know that he could forgive her.

He needed to know if Kurumu had betrayed him.

"Fine, you have till we get there. After that, prepare to defend yourself."


	12. Ch12 Nothing more

It was still early afternoon when the unlikely trio decided to walk along the scenic path meant for lovers to stroll. A few old benches were tucked away under gazebos and they, in turn, were surrounded by flowers and grass that were allowed to grow wild. Two and one were alone as they walked beneath the afternoon sun. Their only company the birds in the trees and the soft trill of the cicadas.

Moka was a few steps ahead of Tsukune and Shade, her arms impatiently crossed over her chest to keep them from lashing out at her husband. Amazingly she was more upset with him at the moment than with the woman who had molested her. The daughter Akashiya was rather proud that she had enough restraint and self control to honor the truce her husband and her molester had made.

It was a challenge.

They had just started walking and it was all she could do not pick the both of them up and sprint the rest of the way to their destination. Moka figured she could get to the end of the path in about three minutes.

The thought made her smile, their current pace was leisurely. Tsukune and Shade were taking their time, barely putting one step in front of the other. They seemed to be making a pleasant stroll of it. Both of them had been quiet so far, and Moka was dying to hear what excuses Kurumu's aunt was going to use to defend herself. She was sure Kurumu's aunt would continue to play the helpless victim, try and talk her way out of the fight. She possibly might even surrender, accepting the separation between her niece and herself from the Aono and Akashiya family.

That would probably be the only way Tsukune would let her leave without too much trouble, but **she** still wanted to let Shade know; through her fists, that no one could do that to her without paying the penalty.

Of course, unless she did plead for mercy Tsukune would likely be just as harsh. He had been upset to learn what had happened to her at the reception.

For the second time since breakfast, she smiled at the thought of her husband being so protective of her. It was a new and, partly, inconvenient circumstance for her to accept Tsukune as her equal. She had never had to experience someone, except her father, telling her what to do and expecting her to listen. Moka knew she needed to respect Tsukune's views, he was her husband now and she loved him more than life itself. But for her to actually hold back, to limit herself and her actions… that was hard and was going to take some getting used to. Back in High School she had constantly fought to protect Tsukune and the others. She was always coming to the rescue. That had been fine. She didn't mind fighting and getting involved in various problems in order to protect the people who were important to her. The reason she chafed now was because she was being asked _not _to act or fight.

It was hard having to mold herself into this new role she had sworn to take, but, at the same time, she saw that Tsukune took his vows extremely seriously. He was trying to be the best husband he could. Wasn't it only right she try to be the best possible wife as well? The problem was figuring out how to manage that while keeping her strength and pride intact. If she lost those she would no longer be herself.

Inner Moka promised herself she would tell him this when she heard Shade mention something to Tsukune, so she decided to listen when Shade began to talk.

"I was rather disappointed in my Mumu-chan when she told me about you, Tsukune-sama." She cocked her head, looking up at him with her dazzling blue and violet eyes. Her full lips widened in an honest smile that was framed by her long, wild dark purple locks of hair.

"How so?" He watched her eyes appraise him, admitting to himself that the woman was gorgeous, extremely breath taking with her feminine charm, her luscious, sinfully proportioned body that not only screamed ripe womanhood, but in how she moved. Her legs crossed in an sensuous sashay in front of her, grazing her generous hip against him, and landing her feet just hard enough to make her breasts jounce with just the tilt of her deep cut top to draw his eyes.

She did this casually, as second nature. Having known Kurumu and Ageha he supposed all succubi were able to exude lust this way. Though Shade was perhaps more gifted at it than most.

"The first time I heard about you it was rather vague," her voice seemed far away, as if reminiscing something years back instead of just an evening ago. "As a succubus, you should know that we take potential 'destined ones' extremely seriously. We are better off than the snow women who need to kidnap their men and steal them away. When we fall in love it usually isn't a problem getting them to be with us. Since, well...look at us."

He did and found himself, again, undeniably drawn to the lush, vibrant woman attached possessively to his arm. Like the other succubi he'd met, Shade had it all, everything that could not only draw the eye, but satiate every other sense as well, her look, her scent, her feel. They were all delightful, even the sound of her voice had a sweet lyrical note to it that pleased the ear. For just a fleeting instant he wondered if she would taste as sweet as Kurumu did. He could understand quite easily how this succubus, like Kurumu and her mother, could lure him into walking arm in arm together when he had originally intended to beat her to a bloody pulp.

"Still, unlike the snow women, we may have a harem of men, but only one is exceptional enough to be considered our Destined One, the father of our children. In that aspect, since we are independent in our choosing and our own people don't bind us with laws, our finding _him_ is even more difficult then how the Snow Women find theirs. We're rather picky."

She winked at him.

He was not amused.

"In their village, they have measures put in place to seek husbands to 'breed' with between the ages of seventeen and twenty two. We can have children up to the age of one hundred and thirty, but we will always keep our youth up to the age of about three hundred plus years. So you can see how my showing an interest in you is only natural when our Mumu-chan found her destined one at so young of an age and he is not willing to accept her as a wife, or at a minimum, as his mistress."

Tsukune absorbed everything she told him. Most of what he heard was already known to him thanks to Kurumu and her mother, Aghea.

"I am rather embarrassed to admit I was only half listening to my niece talk about you when I was invited to go with them to your wedding, but I was startled and confused to hear that the groom was my Mumu-chan's destined one and she was not the bride. To say the least, I was mortified that she had to _schedule_ a romantic interlude with you, but after three other women had their turns before her, placing her upon the bottom rung of the other women, and only with your wife's permission." Shade shook her head slightly. It was _still _hard to believe her little Mumu-chan had been reduced to this. Pleading for slivers of time from the only male she would ever allow to father her children. "I'm sure you can understand how, after hearing her defense and the explanation from my imotou, I _had_ to get involved."

The conversation had been intriguing to Tsukune. He could understand how these events led to Shade's progressive interest in him and his wife, but that still left out the _reason_ she had attacked his wife.

"Of course, heading off to a reception with so many quality men is an opportunity a girl can't ignore. As a succubus, seeking my destined one or collecting men for expanding my own harem, is just a matter of taking advantage of what is available, ne?" She giggled guiltily into his shoulder, "Weddings always do have a higher standard and variety to select from; Married, unmarried...a great man is hard to pass up, even for a night."

Aono Tsukune narrowed his eyes suspiciously to her. He could still remember Kurumu when he'd first met her. She had thought nothing of charming him just to hurt Moka, and she had openly proclaimed her intention to reduce all the males at the academy to be her servants.

"Don't worry," She rolled her eyes, sighing with melodramatic patience, "I didn't take advantage of any _married_ men while I was at your lovely reception. However, your friend Gin was nice enough to help me pass the time. His werewolf stamina is almost on par to some weaker vampires, I must say. He was rather forceful once I had his attention." Her voice lowered with the amorous memory, "The way he pushed me to the floor and lifted my dress-"

"If this is all you're going to talk about, then I believe it would be best if we hurried in silence." Tsukune said brusquely. Knowing Gin he didn't have any doubts he'd been willing enough to 'pass the time' with Shade.

He started to pull his arm off, but, again, was unsuccessful. She chuckled at his discomfort and his inability to dislodge himself from her grip.

She really was stronger then he'd thought she'd be.

And he was unsealed.

"Oh," her lilting voice teased him, "does that bother you to hear that another man, your friend and sempai, had his way with me, Tsukune-sama? Why is that? Jealous? Hmmmm?" She had a teasing grin.

Tsukune was not gentle in his response. "I don't have _any_ of those feelings for you, Shade."

"No?" She pouted, disappointed, "then why are you upset?"

"Because those sort of things are not proper."

"Says _who_?" Her voice lingered on the word, tasting it, adding purpose to it.

"They just aren't," he reconfirmed.

"Because?" She inquired suggestively.

"Because..." the answer was on the tip of his tongue and he knew, at that instant, she was aware of it, as well.

He watched her eyes narrow in slight triumph at his comprehension.

"Say it, Tsukune-sama," her voice was just a breath, but an undeniable reality he couldn't ignore; "I want to hear you say it."

Moka had been listening to their conversation and couldn't keep herself from scowling. She knew where Shade had trapped her Tsukune.

"Because," he swallowed, realizing what direction she had funneled him, "...in my moral code...in the society I was raised upon, it's frowned upon. Sex isn't something two strangers should just do so casually. Especially not at a wedding reception."

To drive her point home a little deeper the Arch Succubus leaned up on her toes to get closer, pushing her herself tighter against his arm and whispered, "And what society is that, Tsukune-sama? A monster's? Perhaps vampire's? Or is it..."

"A human's," he whispered softly, allowing some realities to sink in to where he hadn't before.

Even Moka could start to see the hidden strands of Shade's argument and where she was preparing to trap him.

Shade nodded, quietly glowing in her victory.

"You still _think_ like a human, Tsukune-sama. I _know_ you do."

He remained quiet, reflecting on her lecture.

"Did you know I've spent many years with many species and humans are the most intriguing to me? Do you know why?"

He shook his head.

"Because, in their hearts, in their minds, they are not limited to the physical aspects of their fragile bodies. With their minuscule strength, limited senses, and auras, they have surpassed all the other races and come to dominate this world. With just their intelligence, their wills, and their sheer stubbornness they have driven all us supposedly more fearsome monsters to the shadows until we have no choice but to stay hidden or become like them. Even with their very short life spans and fragile bodies they are the most powerful race of all. To me, that is a wonder upon wonders. You, Tsukune-sama, have that kind of heart and have brought your thinking to one of the greatest families in the youkai dimension. I think my Mumu-chan is blessed to be with someone who is so passionate as to not only attract a vampire, but herself, two witches, and a snow woman. You are truly deserving of the friends and lovers you have found, Tsukune-sama."

As she spoke, he could feel himself start to empathize with her, feeling a small warmth at her glowing compliments and, in parts where her voice was particularly endearing, praising, he felt lured, emboldened, interested...

Moka's crimson eyes caught his and everything snapped back into reality. The Arch Succubus's charm was slowly steering him away from the reason they were all here.

"What does this have to do with Moka-chan and what you did to her?" Tsukune added a little bit of heat to his words, his crimson eyes flashed down at her.

Derailed, she tried another approach.

"Don't look at me like that, Tsukune-sama...you're making me wet." Her voice held a lustful restraint, and he suddenly noticed a strong feminine scent coming from fluids running down the inside of her thighs.

The scent of her pheromone, her sensual hunger triggered his own. He had to turn away from her to try to keep his own thoughts, his own priorities in check.

It was a small victory for her, making him break off and look away. Shade decided to continue, while avoiding his question.

"I had heard of you when I was in the limo heading to your wedding reception. Ageha, my imotou and Mumu-chan's mother...you remember her, right?"

Her name, unwittingly and unwillingly, brought images to his mind's eye: A distinguishing short crimson red dress with a tapering thin white belt that molded itself to a body, a woman's body of such generous proportions...huge soft, head enveloping breasts, supple long legs, hair of the glossiest sea bluish green that fell past her shoulders, and eyes of such dark purple with their knowing, inviting, seeking, offering gaze...

He could still remember the feel of his right hand submerged onto one of her breasts where she had placed his, wanting him to touch it. "_If you like I can use my body to show you the secrets of love between a man and a woman." _And she'd said it with Kurumu and Moka not five feet away.

Blood trickled from his nose.

"Tsukune!" Moka snapped at her husband, her tone scolding.

Tsukune flushed, admittedly caught in his daydream of Kurumu's mother. "I don't think anyone who has met your little sister ever forgets her."

Shade pulled Tsukune's arm further into her own glorious softness, purring into his neck, "And am I also unforgettable, Tsukune-sama?"

He realized, again, that she was distracting him, luring him away with her succubus charm from his purpose, his objective to get answers from her. He tried to stay on track.

"You said earlier that you attacked my Moka-chan because you are a monster." He replied evenly, "Please explain yourself."

Shade gave his arm a little squeeze, "Well, as I was saying, Mumu-chan mentioned every one of your lovers and then she mentioned your little event with Ria,"

Her nee-san's name always brought Moka up short, leveling her eyes to the arch succubus who still had her arms and breasts intimately meshed with her husband.

Like her, Tsukune also reacted to the name of his tormentor, the one that had left lasting scars on him. With his attention locked on Shade, as one, they walked right past his wife.

Moka couldn't believe that with just one name, Tsukune momentarily, unintentionally, forgot about her.

"What did she tell you?" He whispered, deathly serious and sincerely cautious.

The arch succubus scanned his eyes, watching his every little flick, little tweak of his brows, his lips, the way he breathed.

Aono Tsukune was embarrassed, ashamed, and, above all, vulnerable.

"Everything, Tsukune-sama," her tone was apologetic, sincerely remorseful to what happened to him, and, maybe, offering more then what it should have.

_If Kurumu told her everything, like Shade is suggesting_, he though, _then she betrayed my trust. There will be one less dear person in the circle. _

The way he swallowed, he was obviously reliving those moment in his mind, in his heart.

"Kurumu doesn't know everything," he voiced painfully. "Your niece knows bits and pieces but she doesn't know everything. Besides, what does that have to do with Moka?!"

She reared back a little, still holding his arm, but offered him a little more space then what she was occupying.

"What doesn't it have to do with her, Tsukune-sama?" It was Shade's turn to return his glare with mild heat of her own.

"Don't talk about me as if I weren't here!" Moka rounded on her, getting her attention for a brief moment, then her focused, undivided attention.

"You know what I'm talking about, right, Moka-sama?" Shade was not deterred by the vampiress's anger. "We discussed it that evening, while you were on the floor, panting, with your pretty cross in your hands...with _THAT_ look on your face."

The beloved daughter of the Akashiya family stared at her attacker, now with her rebuttal as an accuser, and, wondering, how things had turned on her with just a few words.

"You mean this was after..." Now Tsukune did brush Shade's arm off of him, earning an unrepentant simper from the arch succubus.

"Yes, Tsukune-sama." She stepped away, but siding herself in front of the Aono husband. "We talked afterwards, briefly. Do you really want to know why I did it? Do you want to know what we talked about?"

Shade turned her head left and then right, noticing the clearing they were supposed to head for was just a few hundred yards away.

He nodded, angry but eager.

"I originally just wanted to talk to her, but she was adamant against it when she figured her sister was somehow involved. So, I had to do the one thing that would earn the undivided attention to any vampire."

"And that is?"

"I damaged her pride," she said simply.

Both Aonos quietly trembled.

"I think we need to get moving." Tsukune's voice came out harshly, gravely as if he was choking on something acidic. He began to move towards the clearing and Moka was right at his heels.

"I needed to get her attention, Tsukune-sama," Shade explained patiently, but it was starting to sound like noise in both vampire's ears. "I needed her to understand, just in part, what you felt. So I took her power, her choice away from her and there was nothing she could do to stop it. No matter what you may think of me or what you feel about what I did, you _are_ still wounded from that time!"

Tsukune looked over his shoulder at her, his slitted dark crimson eyes haunted by how much desire he wanted to inflict pain to this woman who hurt his beloved wife.

"And what did you, what could you possibly hope to gain by doing this, Shade-sensei?" He voiced her name, her title with such sinister promise Moka trembled with how it affected her too.

"I'm here, aren't I, Tsukune-sama?" She offered her hands up, in an 'isn't it obvious' gesture. "Let me help you. Right now, the only time I can sense _any_ pride in you at all is when you're angry or defending those you love and care about."

She had said this with praise, with proper acknowledgment, but with the way her face paled and her eyes closed, as if ready to receive her just do's, "However, other than that," she sighed, knowing full well where her next words would take her.

Two slender bat like wings sprouted from her back, followed by a swishing, spade headed tail that dragged along the floor in agitation.

"Other then what, Shade-sensei?" Moka could see that Shade's defenses were rising, her posture was bracing, preparing.

Tsukune also looked ready too, his feet stanced wide as Moka had trained him, his hands out to his side with claws look ready to rip through concrete.

"Other than those time you're preparing to defend your friends, your family, and your beloved..."

Shade's mix matched eyes glowed with her power, giving just the tiniest sliver of insecurity...until her next words left them in stunned disbelief, "Tsukune-sama, you're nothing more then Moka's bitch."


	13. Ch13 Bring The Pain

"Shade," Moka growled with a dark finality, "you haven't seen _my_ bitch yet."

The Arch Succubus was not a stranger to combat. It was well known that being a monster, by its very nature, meant accepting that violence was just a part of life. It was not to be feared or avoided, simply accepted. One had to find their niche amongst the powerful and claim their standing, _nothing _was ever simply given. To excel by using natural abilities granted by birth and strengthened through training, that was as natural to most monsters as breathing.

Of course some monsters had a natural advantage.

Her own youkai flashed a stark magenta before Tsukune's wife decided to unleash.

In a blur, Inner Moka transported herself from Tsukune's side to the succubus's back. The sledgehammer feel of her slender leg crashing into her ribs sent Shade rocketing through the air, body crumpled into twist of limbs for several hundred yards.

Despite crashing through a tree and into the ground, Kurumu's auntie was tougher than she looked and not truly hurt. She was quick enough to get back up and cover herself protectively with her wings to shield against the next blow. The plum haired succubus only just managed that before a punch slammed into her with a gasp and she was again sent flying.

It still hurt...a lot.

Her body dug a trench as it stumbled to a stop. The stony, root thick earth cushioned her fall and brought her to a stop in a mass of clods, dirt, and stringy vegetation. She had only to start to crawl out from the gouge of soil, when she felt Moka's sharp nails dig into her scalp, twisting her hand and pulled Shade up by her hair. Moka calmly looked her over as she might inspect some freshly plucked vegetable. Shade met her crimson eyes...

...and smiled.

That was _not _a good idea_._ Moka grabbed her by the wrist with one hand while still holding tight her hair with the other. Grunting with each turn of the vampiress's wrist, Shade was forced to straighten herself into a more vulnerable angle.

Moka released Shade's hair and cocked her arm back, ready to deliver a straight right cross, but sensed something dangerous behind her.

She twisted just in time to avoid being speared in the back with the Succubi's tail, but she had moved right into the position Shade had wanted. With Inner Moka's left wrist still gripped with her right hand, Shade pressed the flat of her dark horn of her right wing into the joint of her shoulder, pulled, and swept Moka's forward over her extended leg, neatly tripping her.

A normal reaction would have been to fall flat on one's face, but Moka was not unskilled.

She followed her own momentum and tucked, rolled away with her left wrist still locked onto Shade's grip, hooked her leg over Shade's own extended arm, and snapped a kick to the side of her face.

Had Shade's wing not been there, she would have received a neck breaking kick, without a doubt, however Shade, again, was launched into several large trees, reducing them to different sizes of lumber and kindling. Their scattered leaves fell about like dark snowflakes.

"I thought you said you were a lover, not a fighter," Inner Moka mocked as she stood over Shade's battered body, bruised and bloodied and stained with earth and twigs, leaves and spots of dark earth.

Wincing as she struggled to get back up, she gave a half hearted smile to her opponent, "I was the Miss Mud Wrestling champion in the Youkai Bar and Tavern district for twelve years straight." She chuckled a little at Moka's confused reaction, but winced when something moved wrong in her body. "Still, you almost sounded like you were complimenting me."

Again, Inner Moka reached for Shade by the tuft of her plum hair and lifted her easily at arm's length as high as she could reach. "I respect anyone who has the ability to give me _some_ sport in this. Most of the monsters I've fought would already be unconscious by this point."

"Heh," Shade winced, one eye closed as her other hand gripped the same wrist that held her up. "I've had to deal with a lot of jealous wives and girlfriends. Very few were eager to get in the pit with me, but those were always good times. Although, I must say only a few vampires were ever willing to get dirty just to rip my head off. None of them, I must say, did a sundress justice like you do." She deliberately tilted her head down a bit.

Inner Moka's eyes widened when she realized Shade was looking down her blouse at her cleavage.

Shade used that moment to wrap one toned leg around Moka's extended arm, lock the ankle behind the other's knee to form it into a cross, arch her back, and pull with all her might.

The two women fell, with Moka face down and Shade locked onto her arm with a clean arm bar. Growling, Moka rolled, trying to loosen the hold that she was unfamiliar with. Shade spread her wings to extend her stance.

If not for Moka's experience and strength, Shade very well could have snapped her limb.

Twisting her body nearly in half, Moka raised her leg up and axe kicked Shade deep into the pit of her stomach. Her leverage was off, unable to get any real momentum or speed behind it.

It was still a strong blow as Shade grunted, expelling air, but held on tight, pulling harder. She could feel the muscles of the trapped arm tightening under the increased pressure, the slow taunting of tendons and slight give of ligaments. Much more and the arm would break or at least rip from the inside.

Moka screamed in frustrated rage and growing pain, kicking again. Her youkai flared, making the attack strike at different points of the succubus's body stronger, harder, quicker...

Gut, leg, shoulder, and then face she hit Shade with a quick series of blows. Fourth time was the charm, as Shade released her hold on the vampiress and staggered back onto her hand and knees, her free hands were on her nose which had begun to bleed.

Moka skipped away, hissing as she gripped her shoulder and elbow, rolling it to test if it was dislocated. "You're not like your sister or your niece," Moka's voice held just a slightest hint of respect for the woman getting up to her feet.

"I don't like you looking down at my imouto or my little Mumu-chan, but you have to admit they're not exactly ambitious creatures. Now then," She raised her right hand in front of her face, extending her well manicured fingers into very long, dagger like blades. "Lets get serious, shall we?"

Inner Moka closed her eyes, exhaling into a small trance. Focusing on clearing her mind of emotion, feelings, pain, and even the start of mild exhaustion, she reopened with a serenity and tranquility needed to begin this fight anew. She danced on the tips of her toes, her long silver hair rippling with her movements. She really hadn't expected this to be a real fight, she'd envisioned nothing more than her delivering a righteous beating. But finding her opponent stronger and more skilled than she'd anticipated was not a problem. The greater the opponent the greater the satisfaction in victory.

"By all means let's. Whenever you are ready, Succubus."

The two women dashed at each other in a violent collision.

* * *

Tsukune was not the first to respond to Shade's comment, because it startled him in a way that was quite different from Moka's.

Moka took the bait like a fish to a lure. To her, those were fighting words.

Tsukune on the other hand, it was just another long lists of self doubts that was observed and recognized from both his school peers and enemies. There was never any doubt that Moka had been both his shield and his sword when the time to battle or defense was present. It was always there, but things had changed, hadn't it? Because of her blood, their friends, his will to get stronger, and the choices they've all made as a family, their group was powerful...wasn't it?

He thought again about why Kurumu's aunt was here. He also recalled why had Moka, his precious pink haired Outer Moka, his wife, invited this woman to be here. It didn't make any sense. All of their friends were there at the reception and it would have just taken one word, one hint that she had been assaulted by Shade and all hell, public or privately, would have been seen upon this woman and no one would have to have blamed them.

The only conclusion he could think of was that somewhere, inside either of his Mokas' conscious mind, was that Shade was right.

When he felt Kurumu's aunt flare her youkai for the first time, he was surprised that she had been able to hide it so well. He was also sure the little infusion he gave her did not help his beloved wife at the moment. He could feel the power of the Arch Succubus and accept that he had been very wrong about dismissing her abilities from the start and should have offered her a bit more respect then he had, but it was still quite pale compared to his or his wife's.

He saw the woman he loved, would die for tear into the Succubus again. He winced when he heard the sound of flesh pound into flesh. It would seem that his Moka-chan had been the victor on that exchange, however it had not left her unmarred. Small sprays of blood had dusted the air, but it was the Arch Succubus that crashed through several more trees and come to some abrupt stop after tumbling a few times. She got up, wiped her hand across her nose or mouth that were red and swollen, glance at Tsukune, winked her pretty eye at him, and then restarted her attack to an obviously loosing battle.

Both Kurumu and Aghea, though ridiculous in their amorous advances and their childish selfishness, had accepted Moka. Kurumu was always eager to help Tsukune into one erotic endeavor or another, but the days where she was cruelly trying to take Moka's place from his side was over, wasn't it? This wasn't just another one of her side ploys, it couldn't be.

What was Shade's angle? What had Kurumu told her aunt?

That is what he really wanted to know. It scared him to the core to know what was Shade made aware of? Why had she hinted about secrets? If she wanted to get Tsukune in trouble with what he and Kurumu shared, they why go through all this and still hold firm?

Shade's cry of pain brought him back to the present.

Moka's sundress was far from pristine. She was hung over, bent at the waist with her hands resting on her knees, panting with a small appreciative smirk on her lips. Several gashes were grazed over her shoulder, back, thigh, and across one cheek, but none of them were serious. In fact, she seemed quiet elated that she had actually received some damage in the melee. This was something he had always known about his wife that he recognized from the moment he was introduced to Inner Moka. She _loved_ a good fight.

She was enjoying putting Shade in 'her place'. Currently, Shade was faring much worse then her opponent. One hand held her side while her wings drooped tiredly. Her tail had stopped twitching and just lay limply behind her. A slight wheeze escaped her blood tinted lips, but that still didn't stop her from mocking Moka with her grin.

This was not going to be the quick victory Moka was used to; most times her power was simply overwhelming and her opponent would be beaten as easily as stepping on a bug. No, this was taking her time, her concentration, her skill, and, surprisingly, testing her endurance.

"Moka-chan," Tsukune walked over to his wife, carefully avoiding some uprooted trees and some large ditches created by the battle of two powerful monsters.

Her husband's voice got her attention. Straightening her back, she looked over her shoulder at him while carefully keeping Shade also in view.

"Lets stop this now." Tsukune's soft voice was calming. A call of sanity through her blood lust.

How she loved to hear that voice when they talked, but not now. "No, Tsukune."

"Moka-chan, what more can she do to us? Look, she lost. She can barely fight anymore. What else can you possible do-"

"I can beat her! She's still ignorant of her place. Look at her," Moka growled, wiping a small trickle of blood from a gash on her cheek with the heel of her hand.

She was right, Shade Caro, Arch Succubus and Kurumu's eldest aunt was grinning from ear to ear, smiling at everything with an eerie calm. If she was in pain and could barely keep herself erect it didn't seem to matter to her at all. She still held herself as high and regal as she could, even seemed to think herself the victor in the exchange.

Tsukune placed his hand into the crook of Moka's arm, pulling her gently towards him. "Lets go home, Moka-chan. You can't possible do anything more to her without killing her. Do you really want to do that? Whatever else she is she's still Kurumu's aunt and Ageha's sister."

"She's smiling at me, mocking me." She spat. She allowed her husband to carefully pull her away. Still, she had not lost eye contact with her enemy. She was caught between her desire to please him and her instincts to continue the fight. That smug smile on Shade's face was making her angrier by the second.

"Yes, she is. She's trying to beat you the only way she knows how at this point, Moka-chan. She's making you loose control and you're giving her what she wants. Lets go back to the cottage. I'll clean you up and we can call a cab to take her back."

Tipping one way and then another, Shade barely balanced herself on her feet, one eye closed and her breaths coming out in pants as she admired Tsukune trying to break up a fight he had originally wanted. "Yes, Tsukune-kun...Lets see if you can keep her away from me. She has taught me only that I was right all along, and that she was wrong."

"What?!" Moka howled.

"Who threw the first kick? Who initiated the fight? Who is really the master of your home, Tsukune?" Shade winced after a slightly more painful exhale, but she didn't let it show.

Moka's head tilted down, baring her fangs, and she yanked free of her husband.

"Moka, stop! This isn't solving anything and she's doing it on purpose!" Even as he said it, he knew she wouldn't listen. His wife would never allow anyone to think they had beaten her. Shade's words were guaranteed to cause this fight to continue to conclusion.

"Yes, come to me, Moka-chan." She beckoned with her free hand, "Put me in my place! I haven't learned anything other then you know no way of solving things except with your fists. Maybe your ability to think is so flawed, you don't have any other choice. Maybe when you and Tsukune lay in bed together, you can be the big spoon and he the little one. Do you beat him into the shape you want? It only seems proper." Her chuckle came out in an ill humored coughing fit.

"Enough of this!" Moka screamed. "I will **not **be mocked!!"

"Moka, don't!" He grabbed her arm again, attempting to hold her back and some how defuse things, but that was a mistake.

Her senses still heated from the battle, she saw only her opponent and felt someone trying to keep her from her prize.

"Let go of me, Tsukune!" She reached her hand out to brush him off, but ended up slapping him, knocking him down. He landed with a painful grunt.

Moka didn't notice, all she could think about was beating Shade bloody and showing her her place. "Aaaaaaaah!" Moka cleared the distance between her and Shade in the blink of an eye, hand raised and ready to pound Shade with every ounce of her strength till she was nothing more then a bloody spot on the ground.

It was there, so close she could taste it, the supreme moment of retribution she wanted from this vile woman. This creature had put her hands and mouth on her! She had treated her like a plaything! **No one **could do that and not pay for it. Shade **would **know her place and her humiliation would be every bit as sweet and pleasing and rewarding as one of Tsukune's kisses. And then, just as she found her target, her momentum carried through her hips, torqued her body to deliver her fist through that infuriating grin she noticed her enemy's smile grow absolutely victorious.

She had not expected to be met with Shade's flashing purple eyes... and then feel as if she had completely missed her.

Shade, her opponent, was gone, but there was something else completely different about...everything.

Moka had been to many worlds and planes of existence, but she couldn't help suddenly feeling as if she was on one now, a place that was real but different from the world she was used to. At this moment the ground was shifting around her, leaning one way and then another. The color of the sky changed from its usual blue to a light lavender, the color of everything around her seemed to be tinted and strange. Reality itself became strange. Before she could ponder it more, she smelled Shade, felt her behind her.

There she was, her opponent looking still worse for wear, but doing a bit better then she remembered.

"You're not done yet, are you?" The older women mocked, flaring her youkai and her wings wide, her claws extended like some monstrous talons.

Moka was only pleased to know that this battle had yet to finish, and her opponent was worthy of her fury.

"Hardly," She answered. It didn't matter what world or place they were on she would beat Shade to bloody ruin.

They ripped into each other with fresh vigor.

* * *

Shade had fallen to all fours, unable to stand anymore.

"Moka!" Tsukune ran over his wife, unable to comprehend what had happened. "What did you do to her?!"

Moka was still, statue still with her feet spread wide in a perfect fighting stance, fist pulled back but held in place, her eyes blazed with fury but were staring out into empty air.

Her eyes, those dark red crimson eyes were still awake and alive, but lost someplace deep in her own mind.

"It's just..." Shade panted after spitting a bit of blood onto the grass, "An Illusion, Tsukune. She's fine."

"Make it stop!" He gripped her by what was left of her dress, making her face him. Her eyes looked through him.

"I will," she slumped backwards into the grass, obviously exhausted. She found the energy to aim a glower at him though. "But, I want us to talk first."

When she looked up, her eyes were glowing opalescent. Even in spite of her injuries, she still had some power left to use one of the Succubi's most powerful abilities.

"We've talked enough," Tsukune growled, "Release her."

"I think it would be best she stay as she is for now," She raised her hand to placate him when his body tensed. "I think it would be better for her to _not_ hear what I have to tell you."

Tsukune blinked. "So," he said carefully. "You're finally going to talk to me about those secrets you hinted at before?"

She gave a wery nod. "How about we start with the fact when you spend your evenings making love with my Mumu-chan, you ask her to put on the illusion that she's Ria?"


	14. Ch14 Please just

Chapter 14 The Bet

"How about the fact when you spend your evenings making love with my Mumu-chan, you ask her to put on the illusion that she's Ria?"

At those words his first reaction was to look back at his wife. Despite his concern for her safety he felt nothing but relief that she didn't seem to have heard.

For a moment he felt his world start to crumble. He could see the cracks start to form in what he'd thought was a going to be a happy life. His faith, his love, his trust, his devotion were all failing him thanks to that one sentence. An ache in his chest squeezed his heart in a way that made him want to double over and weep.

_How could you do this to me, Kurumu-chan? How could you betray my trust?_

Had Moka heard what Shade had just said, he was sure he would have lost his precious wife forever. He had no doubt of it, no matter how much Moka loved him he knew she could never accept it if she thought he preferred her older sister to her in any way. Even worse was that he couldn't lie to her. If she asked him certain questions she would wring the painful truth out of him.

There were just some things that were best left hidden and forgotten.

"You don't need to worry," Shade assured him. "My illusions are much stronger than Mumu-chan's. Moka is completely caught within them and oblivious of anything you or I say right now." She gave a slight chuckle, one eye was beginning to close, surrounded by an ugly bruise. "So far as your wife is concerned, she and I are having a glorious fight to the death. Vampires, they always take things too far don't they?"

"I'm a vampire too," he pointed out.

"Present company excluded."

Two tears fell from his eyes as he touched Moka's face locked as it was in a fierce scowl. It was obvious to Shade his thoughts were focused solely of her.

She held out a hand to him, the other still clutched at her side. "Would you be a dear and help me up Tsukune-sama?"

Her wings and claws had melted back into her body. Once again she was just a stunningly beautiful woman, though a little worse for wear. The results of her fight were only too obvious. There was a large bruise forming under her right eye along with several smaller ones on her arms, legs, and shoulders. Small cuts ran her arms and legs. Her clothing had been largely shredded and he could see most of her sheer black bra. What was left of her dress barely covered her 'unmentionables'.

He stole a breath before glancing over at her. To the eye she might not look threatening any more but that was usually when a succubus was most dangerous. He knew that Shade had been defending herself against Moka, using her illusions to defeat his wife at that last possible moment. Deciding to put his own worries aside for the moment he first made sure Moka was all right, then he approached her and offered her his hand.

"Are you all right?" His question lacked warmth, but the concern was real enough, he didn't want her permanently injured.

Taking his hand she pulled herself wearily to her feet, swaying till she eventually collapsed against him. She really was at the end of her strength. Defeating Moka had taken everything she had. "I'll be fine in a few minutes. Vampires are not the only ones that heal quickly." She smiled at him demurely. "Mumu-chan was right about you. In spite of everything you still offered to help me and asked if I was all right. You really are very kind Tsukune-sama."

"Don't get the wrong idea," he told her icily. "I don't understand what your motives are and I'm still angry about what you did to my wife at our reception. I think what you did deserved punishment." He looked away from her, back to Moka still lost in the illusion of battle. "I never wanted you dead though, just punished." Noticing how much of her body was pressing against him he pulled away from her to let her stand on her own. "That doesn't mean I like you."

She continued to smile and hold onto his hand. "Not yet."

"Not yet?" He glanced back at her. "You are out of your mind if you think I'll forgive you for this. I want you gone and away from my friends and family. Oh, and if there is _any_ doubt as to how much I utterly despise you right now," taking her hand out of his, he pointed a finger under her chin to emphasize his point. "I also never want to see Kurumu again."

Shade's eyes turned to slits, her lips forming a dangerous frown. "You're starting to upset me, Tsukune-sama. I've been a good girl up til now. I've gone through hell to get myself here for the sake of my Mumu-chan and you. I'm going to allow you a chance to take back what you said, or I swear to whatever god you hold sacred that you'll regret it."

Before this moment she had been all smiles, friendly even in the midst of battle, now she looked like a volcano near to eruption. She was deadly serious. Angry and fuming silently with an eyebrow tick and flex of her jaw that proved her wrath was growing beneath the surface.

Tsukune stood his ground, letting his youkai seep into him like some drug, tingling his senses into something dangerously eager to put wounds on her flesh. He usually tried to keep his vampiric nature at bay, but when he released it he felt the same urge for battle all vampires seemed to revel in.

"Fine. If you can explain to me _why_ Kurumu decided to tell you what she swore to never share with anyone. She made that promise to me on her own, I never asked for it. So please, convince me she was justified in breaking it. While you're at it, tell me why I should accept your help, accept you assaulting my wife, and accept involving Moka's family in all this. If you can do all that then I will reconsider keeping Kurumu in my life. Until then, your Mumu-chan betrayed me and I want nothing more to do with her as either friend or lover."

"And what trust did she betray Tsukune-sama?" Shade stood a little taller, just enough for her eyes to meet his nose. "Admit it, here and now in front of me, why you no longer wish to be loved and adored by my niece. If you're going to discard her and her love of you, at least be man enough to admit the reason why."

He faltered for a moment, her sudden show of anger and righteous indignation making him hesitate.

"C'mon," Shade mocked him now, hands on her hips. "Be a man." She deliberately glanced over at Moka. "There's no one else here to hear it."

"You want to hear me say it? Fine! You win, okay?" Tsukune paced in front of her, his hands at his face as if to try and get the image out of his own head. Glancing back to his wife, his love, his eyes consumed with shame.

"When Kurumu and I would meet," his voice seemed far away, almost as if he was talking more to himself or to Moka then to Shade, "usually in Las Vegas...she really liked it there because there was always so much to do, so much to see, and a sort of controlled chaos about it...kind of like her." He chuckled to himself without humor. "We would have a suite reserved, some place expensive and discreet. I would make her use her ability with illusions to appear as Ria...and we would have sex together like that." His voice came out pitifully broken, empty as if he had given up all hope and just accepted his fate.

Shade shook her head, speaking calmly, soothingly. "I don't condemn you for that Tsukune. If it was just an illusion or role play, that would be fine with me. I think it's _healthy_ to seek out fantasies with lovers sometimes, but that is not why I am here, is it?"

Tsukune flinched and lowered his eyes, unable to look at Shade. "She told you about _that_, didn't she?"

Kurumu's aunt nodded, "Yes, Tsukune-sama. That is why I am here and why I've gone through all this trouble. Say it out loud to me, confess your sins."

Stubbornly, Tsukune shook his head, unable to admit what Shade was asking him to.

"Tsukune," Shade gripped his chin and tipped his head up, forcing him to face her honest, sympathetic mix matched eyes. "It's okay. I already know. Kurumu isn't mad, you know that. I'm not here to blame you, threaten you, or even laugh at you."

The look on Tsukune's face said he truly didn't believe her.

"I'm not going to because I know, deep inside this vampire body, you are still a human. You have a human heart, with human regrets, human beliefs, and that," She poked his chest to emphasize her point. "Is why I'm here for you and Mumu-chan. Above all, I know you are still true to your friends who you love, and to your wife who wouldn't understand unless she experienced the same thing."

Tsukune's sudden growl was feral and angry.

"I won't lie to you, Tsukune." She frowned at him. "I touched your wife. I tasted her, but I was gentle and made her think of how she wanted to love you, touch you, be with you on your wedding night. She was so very delicate and gentle. Your Moka-chan really is a wonderful person and a great woman. You really are blessed, Tsukune."

The logical part of his mind told him that Moka wasn't really injured, just physically touched against her will. The possessive, loving protective man in him, the husband just couldn't get the fact out of his head that someone had touched his Moka-chan without permission and violated her.

"Then, after that little lesson, I touched her some more, put my mouth on her and felt her with my breasts in her most sensitive womanly area as she orgasmed against me. I made her think of what you must have endured while you were with Ria. I wanted her to comprehend on a physical level what it must have been to feel pleasure while experiencing it with something or someone that brought you pai-"

"You bitch!" his hand whipped around and struck her across her face, throwing her into the ground in a crumbled mass of dirt, even shattering a large boulder with her body. The plumes of dusts, swirling dirt and leaves that flew in the air clouded Shade's form into something broken and misshapen.

The Arch Succubus could feel his rage along with mounting youkai power filling him. Tsukune was glaring down at her and his fists were gripped tight at his sides. Shade could feel the humanity ebbing away and being replaced by the vampire.

"How dare you touch her like that?! What gives you the right to make her remember that night when it took us so long to get over it? What makes you think you can take something so precious from her, hurt her, and get away with bragging about it to my face?! You fucking, thoughtless whore! I'll never forgive you! I'm going to kill you!"

He straddled her now, hovering over her limp body, gripping her neck with both hands and squeezing as tightly as his vampiric powers would allow him.

"Urk!" Shade tried to breathe. _Damn! Vampires really do always take things too far!_ She could only make a wet sputtering sound come out of her lips. Her eyes bulged out of their sockets as his hands squeezed the life from her.

The veins around his arms, his neck, his face bulged with his exertion. Teeth bared and hissing, he squeezed, squeezed, squeezed. The exotic arch succubus's face, her beautiful, stunningly attractive visage blotched into something ugly, began to turn red, her beauty vanished and became something hoarse and quivering, something desperate and scared.

"Please die...die so no one will know...please...please, just die..." he shivered over her, taking a maniacal pleasure in ending her life that he had never wanted, ever considered until now. He squeezed harder, making her body twitch and writhe into the painful throes of impending death.

The oddest thing happened, Tsukune noticed as her eyes were flickering instead of glowing. One was brighter while the other one was losing its light, as if a part of its luminance was shifting, changing...then he realized what was happening.

"Shit," he said before saw her other eye reflect a glaring blue light...

* * *

_This battle is beautiful_, Moka thought.

She had not relented in her fight with Shade. The Arch Succubus had adapted to Moka's speed, her strength, and her ferocity and was still giving as good as she got. Five long gashes marked the front of one thigh, another across her back, and three more had been carved across her cheek. The weren't bleeding profusely, but there were a lot of them and they were seeping onto her sundress. The Elder Vampire's most beloved daughter could feel her body just starting to tire and weaken under the strain. Shade was hurting too though, she was bent over and panting. Her moves had definitely slowed and her attacks were less sharp. There was just a little less snap to her slashes, a little less steel in her spine, and a little more weariness in her eyes.

Moka was winning by inches and she loved it. There was no glory in defeating the weak. There was no better place to be, no more satisfying victory than one where she delivered pain and humiliation by fractions instead of leaps and bounds. It was inevitable that she would win this confrontation, that was never in doubt, but the Succubus kept on coming, unrelenting, and as determined as she was. Had she had Moka's strength, speed, endurance, and healing ability, the chance of her winning this battle would have been less predictable. Unfortunately for her only one of them was a vampire.

Born and bred specifically to be a predator, a hunter, a killer, there was no creature that could equal her.

"So how do you," Shade panted, her body trembling, "want to end this?"

"With a winner," Moka inhaled deeply, then exhaled slowly, trying to recover her breath. The young Aono bride had never been put through this much exertion before and she was absolutely joyous. "and a loser."

"I would never," Shade's body twitched, flinching as if something invisible struck her, "call you a loser, Moka-san."

"And I would never consider you my superior," Moka growled, launching herself yet again, swinging her leg around for a beautiful axe heel drop on Shade's shoulder.

Before it could land, Shade vanished in a puff of smoke.

Moka blinked, then turned to her right, her left, up and then down. She spun herself in a circle and noticed, for the first time since the battle had begun, that everything was off. The normally lavender tint to everything had faded into something closer to magenta. It was silent, there was not even the perpetual chirping of cicadas or the rustle of wind through the trees. She was still in the forest that she remembered, everything was still in place, like the damaged earth, the uprooted trees, the deep grooves in the ground where she had tossed the Arch Succubus around and used her body like a plow.

No, something was not right, but she couldn't understand what.

"Tsukune?" She asked, and it was then she realized he was nowhere to be seen.

"Tsukune," Moka had lost track of him since the fighting started and she had knocked him aside. Was he hurt? Had she hurt him so badly he couldn't respond? Where was he?

_Oh, no..._

"TSUKUNEEEEEE!" Her soulful wail echoed inside the illusion that Shade created.

The only answer she received was an unnatural silence.


	15. Ch15 Bitter Victory

_Where is he?_

"Tsukune!" she called out, but received no answer._  
_

Moka tilted her head up, taking in the scents of the forest. Finding who she was looking for, she growled when it was further away than she would have expected. The silver haired vampire followed the path of destruction back all the way to where the fight had begun, where she remembered separating herself from Tsukune. She stopped and briefly admired her handiwork and the scars it had left on the earth. Had she really been so distracted with her fight as to have allowed this much space between them? Disappointed in herself for being so blinded by anger and rage she decided that when she did find him, she would make it up to him somehow.

She was his wife after all and it could be a lot of fun once she got rid of Shade and cleared this whole mess up.

The angered Vampiress and Arch Succubus had definitely put each other through their paces. Following the path of destruction was as easy as finding the biggest gouge in the ground or where the trees lay cut down like morning grass.

_I know he has to be here somewhere. _

"Tsukune!" She again called out to no response.

On a lighter note, she would have to thank the Arch Succubus for deciding to keep their fight away from the cottage. Her father would be highly annoyed if were destroyed. As it was the whole area would take months to recover and it would probably years to restore the trees to their former glory. Thinking about that, one worrisome question did come to mind as she jumped over one toppled after another.

_Why had Tsukune not followed me?_

Moka stopped where she was, confused at what her sense of smell was telling her. Tsukune should be here, but he wasn't anywhere to be seen. It was the ragged noise of 'something' that caught her attention. It sounded garbled and uneven, like one of those wheezing pathetic ayashi that would challenge her in a fight and had just been reminded of their place...

...know your place...

The young Aono bride blinked. It did sound a lot like someone who was having trouble breathing. Who else could that-

That's when she leaned on a near by tree, unable to think of what potentially could be that sound or who it came from. The trunk was sticky, so she moved away only to realize it wasn't sap on her fingers.

It was blood.

"No," her voice hitched. She looked up, higher then her eye level to watch something, no, someone dangling that made her feel as if Mizore blossomed a star of ice in her heart that went through her veins, her mind, her soul.

**"TSUKUNE!"** She shrieked.

Impaled through from back to front was her husband, Aono Tsukune. How he had managed to get himself there, at least fifteen feet high and at least seven feet from the bottom of his toes, hooked through a broken limb from back to front she couldn't even conceive. Still, there he was, his hands trembling around the makeshift hook that arched upwards, as if afraid to touch it because of the obvious agony, but wanting to get himself out of his current state. His mouth, dripping blood from the corners and with so much dribbling mixed with saliva down his front and off the branch, moved, obviously trying to call her name. His skin was so pale, so deathly white that she couldn't understand how he could even be alive, let alone moving.

Moka climbed up the tree, bracing herself next to him on an aligning branch. Tears fell unchecked down her cheeks, her chin. "Don't move, Tsukune. I'll get you out of this, I promise. Just hold still. I'll-"

His head followed her movements, wonderingly dazedly about her face as if he had to recognize her. "Mo-ka...chan?"

"Yes, Tsukune, I'm here! Don't worry, I'll help you in a little bit, but don't move, okay?"

"Why...why did..."

"Shh, don't talk, Tsukune."

"...you..."

"Tsukune, it's okay. Calm down...just relax-"

He cried in agony, loud and searing, then reached across himself and _slapped_ her.

She could only stare mutely, shocked and confused. Her hand went to her cheek where it began to sting and bleed again, burning her through her healing scrapes to her soul.

"...do this...to me?"

It took a moment for her to put everything in order from what he said.

"What are you talking about?! I didn't do this to you! I would never hurt-"

Then she remembered, back when he tried to get her to stop. She wanted to get back at Shade, to hurt her, put her in her place. Nothing would stop her from getting her much deserved retribution.

Nothing...no one...not even...

"Tsukune," her memory erupted into her brain, recalling how she had shrugged him off to attack the Arch Succubus. "I couldn't have! I..I didn't push you away that hard! There's no way-"

"Was...I...worth...so little," he stared back angrily at her, hatefully and unforgivably. "...com...pared to...your...pride?"

Her mouth went dry.

Everything scrolled like some sick movie in quick spurts of speed from the time she had ran into him in school, through the trials of each of their beloved friends, to the times he has selflessly protected her when he could, suffered her Inner Self's constant barrage of callous dismissals, to her trials with her family, Ria and her father, then up to the greatest day of her life, their marriage to now.

"I-I'm sorry." She mumbled, tears streaking down her already wet face. Lips trembling and her hands reaching to touch him, but gripped him fearfully when she saw his head start to loll from one side to the next, swaying weakly.

"Yes," he whispered so quietly she had to move closer so his lips touched her ear, "you...really...are..."

He was gone.

Her husband, Aono Tsukune was there before her hanging still where she found him. Struck through his middle with a make shift steak through who knew how many organs, he remained quiet and motionless, helpless, and swaying with the slight currents of the wind and all Moka did was upset him as he departed.

She didn't even get a chance to tell him she loved him or try to save him. All her words, her anger, her actions had led her to this moment and it was taken away by her own hand.

Moving herself around, bracing herself to his front, Moka put herself against him as much as she could, lift and pulling at the same time to get him off the limb. Bone and flesh scraped raggedly against his spine and rips, making her have to tug with small jerks and twists, eventually making her capable of falling and landing with his body in her arms. Had he been alive, she knew without a doubt he would probably not have survived the process and, if he had, it would have been nothing short of unimaginable torture to experience.

_Then what would have felt like to have been pierced?_ A cold calculating thought crossed her mind.

Cradling him on her lap, her fingers touching the lifeless frown still plastered at her, she rocked herself back and forth, unable to think of what to do next, what to hope to accomplish now that everything she had worked to have him in her life was undone and the most important person to her that touched her beyond her soul was gone...by her very own hand and she did not even notice.

Her battle was so much more important then he was and he tried to convince her to stop.

"Ahhh..."

The voice was not hers, was it?

"Aaaaaaahhh..."

It sounded like hers, but it held too much sorrow, too much pain. Was she really this weak? It couldn't be. Her father wouldn't approve of her displaying this much sadness as a full blooded vampire.

**"AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"**

Her morbid cry of dejected pain was the only life left in this world of Illusions.

* * *

Tsukune found himself in a world of blue.

That about as good as he could describe it. Everything was tinged from one color of blue to the next. His hands, his clothes, his skin was painted an fainter sky blue, but it was still the same hue as that of everything around him. The grass was even a darker navy blue, as the trees were a tinted aqua blue. In the words of his love and mother to his children, Mizore, "This place is weird."

"I'm very disappointed in you, Tsukune." The voice came from behind him, but Shade was no where to be found. "You said you only wanted me punished, and you didn't want me dead. I hope you'll understand that it's going to be harder for me to believe you from now on."

Once he stopped looking like a dog trying to chase his tail, she continued.

"Yet, I can't help but admire you as well. I know for a fact you've never killed before. You've rarely ever willingly injured someone else unless there was absolutely no choice, and I've pushed you so far that I'm tempted to really just let you and Moka go, but that would betray the trust Kurumu has instilled into me."

"What do you want?" he looked around and noticed the blue tinge of the world flicker.

"What I've always wanted you and your wife to do since the beginning, Tsukune, is listen."

"I'm listening." he said, looking up to see the materialization of two disembodied eyes hovering in front of him.

"No, you're trying to fight me still. If you were ready to listen your other self still wouldn't be trying to squeeze the life out of me."

"Then, why are you not attacking me? Why are you and I just talking? What about Moka's Illusion? Is she out of the one you cast at her? Shouldn't you be dead by now?"

"Tsk, Tsk, Tsukune...Do you really think so little of me? Haven't I proven how resilient I am so far? Oh, don't get me wrong, trying to keep up this one and your Moka-chan's is a horrible strain on me, but I think I can do this for a little while more, just enough to get my point across."

Tsukune scratched his head.

"Of course, the quality is a little unrealistic and anyone who is caught in it will eventually know that they are under some kind of spell, but until _I_ release them, then there is no escape. If you kill me, I promise you that you have just doomed Moka and yourself."

"What?!" He reached for the eyes, but they flew into the air, hovering just out of his reach.

"You heard me." The Shade's voice snapped at him. "Your mind is trapped in _my_ world, as is Moka's. I tried doing things the nice way with both of you. I normally have a lot of patience, Tsukune, but, truly, you two have pushed me beyond limits I can't even begin to describe. If there is anything I want you to understand and accept before we even consider going another step forward, is this: I...am...an...**Arch Succubus**!"

The whole world around him shuddered and the earth crumbled away at his feet. Cracks sprang up to his left and right, magma erupted from the ground spitting out ash and poison gas. The clouds above swept past at impossible speeds, and a groaning like nothing he'd ever heard before pierced the skies. Behind the blur of clouds, the sun stood in the heavens slowly darkening to a lustrous blood red. He felt the whole world around him falling into madness.

He stood in the midst of it somehow untouched, a witness to a world falling into entropy. As he watched the skies began to fade as he saw no more clouds and even the sun slowly disappeared without ever setting. Endless, limitless darkness canvased around him. Stars blinked out one by one and then in whole groups leaving nothing at all above. The ground he was so used to also dissolved into nothing though he somehow remained standing out there in the emptiness.

He was nowhere.

"Do you think this is beautiful, Tsukune?"

Shade's vocal reverie made him a little sad, as if he was seeing a small piece of her that he had blatantly ignored, but only found interest because now he had no other choice but to listen. She continued without waiting for his answer.

"Here, everything is lawless and free. Our rules don't apply and only fate can decide what is to come. Call it what you will; chaos, random chance, luck, or destiny...nothing is certain. Innocent lives are snuffed out in the crib while the wicked grow ripe in old age. There is no order or plan to any of it, there's just… life. Don't you agree?"

Suddenly, she was next to him in the same dark short burgundy dress with gold trim. Her glasses were back on over her mismatched eyes and her hair was perfectly combed and carefully placed past her shoulders in wavy locks.

"Where are we?" He asked, feeling as if he should be dead, like a spirit floating about no longer attached to the corporal world.

"We are in a place between thought and consciousness. I am probably very close to death, so I don't have much time. I just felt that I should show you a few things before I die." She said with just a slightly annoyed sigh, as though contemplating her own end was as important as deciding what to have for dinner.

"So that's it? You're not even upset or mad? You're just going to accept that I've killed you and let it go?"

The plum locked temptress turned back to him with an amused smirk. "Tsukune, you forget, if I die you and Moka die. If that happens my Mumu-chan will live on as will my imotou, but she will be heartbroken as she lives on. Also, I have lived my life to the fullest, enjoyed pleasures that were rapturous, mind blowing, and even illegal in some countries." She chuckled naughtily to herself. "I have loved in many ways, but never in the way that truly mattered." She looked over to him with a curious tilt of her head. "Did you know I have yet to find my Destined One?"

"I...I thought being someone of your standing you would have found one, if not many by now." He mumbled curiously.

She clucked her tongue at him, mildly annoyed. "Tsukune, you're a dear boy and I really like you, but you're not very perceptive at times, are you? Mumu-chan was right about that too."

"Hey!"

"I'm an Arch Succubus because of my power and my skill in granting others pleasure, but finding a Destined One is the ultimate achievement for us. That is why I'm so worried for you and my Mumu-chan. When you started to speak of separating yourself from her, _that_ upset me. Even I haven't achieved that cherished dream, yet you're going to just throw it away like it's nothing. Don't think just because we are experts in the arts of physical pleasure that we don't know how to love. Since the moment she announced that you were her one and only Destined One Kurumu has stood by your side loving and faithful. She has never wavered in her devotion to you even when it was clear your heart was with another. She has fought for you Tsukune, bled for you, risked _everything_ for you, even worrying your wrath for so you can heal, yet you can stand there and talk about throwing her aside like garbage? You should be ashamed of yourself!" She scolded, shaking her finger at him.

"But...she promised..." he began.

"Oh stop playing the helpless victim!" Now, she reached out with a very real feeling hand and yanked his ear toward her. "If you're man enough to choke the life out of somebody at least be man enough to take responsibility!"

"Yowch! Hey, what the hell?!" He had no choice but to bend over or have his ear ripped off.

"Do you really think it was so easy for her? As if she shared your secrets on some whim? Yes, Kurumu can be a bit flighty, I know, but she would _never_ violate your trust so easily. She was putting the love she has for you on the line by telling me. She begged me, as her aunt and as an Arch Succubus and as a Mistress of Seduction to personally help you. It would be like Moka asking her father to personally over see your welfare, as a last resort. And she didn't do it for herself Tsukune! She did it for your sake. I agreed to help and it's going to cost me my life so I'll be **DAMNED** if you're not going to listen to me and see what I have to show you before we both pass on."

Shade released him with a demeaning glower, watching him float away in a subdued, indignant huff.

"She is not the one in the wrong here, Tsukune-sama, _YOU_ are. She is worried about you and loves you, but you're so willing to hide it under Moka's rules and moral code that you are ignoring your own. In all of this have you even stopped for one second to consider _Kurumu's_ feelings? You've been worried about hiding your secrets and about protecting your wife. Have you even thought about the way you've hurt my niece?"

"I've never hurt Kurumu!"

"Is that a fact Tsukune-_sama_?" Shade mocked, bringing a hand to her sunglasses to seat them better, then she snaps her fingers.

All around them colors and shapes began to form from within the void. A kaleidoscope of colors came to life within a small sphere. Tsukune could make out an image of Kurumu within it. The sphere quickly expanded to encompass both of them and the space all around. The familiar scent of Kurumu's mixed with the hot stale air and the smell of cigarettes, he could feel bumps on the road and the steady motion of a vehicle going through traffic. Had he not known it to be an illusion he would have certainly thought it absolutely real.

Instead he was just a ghost here.

They were inside a large luxurious vehicle, possibly a limo, with Kurumu, her mother and Shade all in the same clothing they'd had on at the reception.

Kurumu was laying down on her mother's lap, sniffling with a tissue to her nose and a very cross looking Shade on another seat. Everything about her was in distress; her arms were folded over her chest, her legs tightly clamped against each other with her right foot twitching in an agitated rhythm, and her mouth chewed on her bottom lip as if holding back a snarl.

"I don't know what to do Auntie... was I wrong to ask for help?" She sounded pathetically miserable.

Tsukune reached out a translucent hand to touch her, unaware that Kurumu could even look so sad.

"Kurumu-chan...what's wrong?" he asked, but Kurumu still looked through him.

Shade's hand slapped down on his with a reprimanding look. "Just listen, Tsukune. What I'm showing you is everything you need to know. You can't affect what's going on, so be a good boy and just shut up and listen."

Begrudgingly, he understood and listened.

"No, no, Mumu-chan, you're a good girl. You always have been, but I'm still very disappointed in you." Her voice was conciliatory, as if to show some sympathy for her niece's pitiful admission of failure. That didn't make her words any less harsh.

"Auntie!" She whined, burying her nose in the hankie. "Stop calling me that!"

"Kurumu-chan, watch your tone." Aghea chided gently, still combing her daughter's pretty hair. "She's here to help you, so you need to just listen and answer what she asks you. Understand, baby?"

"Yes, momma." Kurumu pouted, sniffling behind her bit watery eyes and stuffy nose.

"Explain it to us." Shade pulled her sunglasses off her face, nibbling at the end of one bracket.

"Well, it started one night after we had just made love," she began, her face heating up and her smile growing.

"No, I want you to show me." Shade twirled her fingers at Kurumu. "You know how to use Illusions. I want you to show us."

"Auntie! That's embarrassing!" Her cheeks darkened and she buried her head in her mother's lap again.

Smirking at her imotou, Shade sighed. "It's not like you've never watched us have sex with any of our partners before, Mumu-chan."

"She's right, daughter. It's our way, our moral code that our body is beautiful as is the act and expression of sex and love. If you love this boy-"

"Tsukune," Kurumu corrected.

"Yes, Tsukune-kun, if you love him and you want us to see what you're so worried about, then words are not enough. The body speaks more honestly than the voice sometimes. You know that." Shade's little sister scolded her daughter again.

"Yes, momma." Kurumu admitted grudgingly.

Resigning herself with a few short breaths, she sat up and prepared herself through slight concentration and meditation. Eventually, her dark purple eyes glittered and before her auntie and her mother, an image of an exhausted but happy couple lying in bed together took shape.

Their room was appealing in its decoration. A bottle of wine chilled in a bucket with two half empty glasses sitting on top of a table. Plates were placed on the table as was some food sent in via room service, but it appeared they hadn't yet come around to actually eating anything. Candles were lit all about, casting everything in a warm romantic glow. They must have been some place close to water because the waves could be heard crashing against the shore from beyond the open screen door.

In a large bed with thick comforters strewn about was a very naked couple half covered in sweat and sheets. On his side was a winded, but content Tsukune. His eyes held respect, caring, concern, an intimate understanding, and yes, love for the woman in front of him.

But the love she could see was there was fractional compared to the one he showed Moka. Kurumu knew she had to be satisfied with that. When you were starving stale bread was infinitely better than no bread. Yet she couldn't help longing for more.

"Tsukune...is there anything you want me to do for you?" Kurumu rolled over to him, nuzzling his neck. She pressed her voluptuous breasts against his chest, kissing his chin and lips softly, mewling her unquestionable adoration for him with her sighs. She knew all his favorite spots, she knew _exactly _how he liked to be touched. It was quite obvious she was frustrated that even though he was content and satisfied with her, there was something missing, something just under the surface that she couldn't quite see. When they made love she could feel him holding back.

"You're fine just the way you are, Kurumu-chan. I couldn't make you more beautiful, more passionate, or more trusting then how you are now. We are fine doing what we've always been doing." his voice was kind, polite...but it was too polite, too accommodating. She knew him well enough to know he was hiding something.

Kurumu also knew she was making a mistake by saying what she was about to, because she knew it made him uncomfortable and it teetered on the fringes of his relationship with his Moka, but she had to let him know.

"You know that I love you, right Tsukune? You know that you are my first and last love? As my Destined One, you can tell me anything, do anything without worrying about hurting me. As long as it makes you happy it makes me happy."

He cupped her pretty face with his large hand, smiling just a little more thoughtfully than he had before. "I know, Kurumu-chan. You've always been there for me and I treasure you more and more each time we are together. I am very blessed and thankful to Kami to have you and all my friends in my life."

That was not what she had wanted to hear.

The young succubus had hoped with all her soul that he would have said he loved her, that he cherished her above all things and she was an irreplaceable part of his life. She felt the least attractive of all the girls and it gnawed at her. It was a fact that Mizore had had his first child and was going to have another. That was wonderful and she was honestly glad for Mizore, but where was _her_ special place with him? Being the mother of his children didn't that mean he would spend the most of his time with Mizore next to Moka? Her standing was a barely attained third, and that was because Ruby-san was always busy with the Chairman. If she ever had any free time, with her wise and wonderfully intuitive mind, she very well could steal even more of her Tsukune's affections away from her. In hind sight, she was just the noisy, buxom fangirl that would do anything for him, but received very little of his attention. She was just a convenient lay at best, someone to be taken for granted and thrown the occasional bone to.

What else did she have to do to prove her love for him? What more was there to offer?

"Tsukune," Kurumu mumbled while she took his hand to her lips, kissing his fingers slowly, tenderly.

"Yes, Kurumu-chan?" His voice was so manly and sure, so different from what it had been before when he was a scared virgin.

"Do you have any fantasies?" Kurumu knew all men had them and she was more than willing to do whatever he wanted to ensure her place within his heart.

"Not really, Kurumu-chan. Of course, there is this one where I am making love to all sorts of different women...a vampire, a snow girl, a succubus, a witch...although, I do have to say I think I've got all the bases covered." they shared a light laugh.

She pushed herself against him bodily, eventually pulling him to her soft pillowy breasts. He felt his hand trace over the large round swell of her 'girls', tickling her thick hardening nipple with the pad of his thumb. This made her squirm under him, her eyes closing in delight as his little prods brought an expanding warmth into her. She was sure he felt her purr underneath him. Kurumu knew he was enjoying how sensitive she was and it delighted her that he knew her body so intimately.

"I love the way you feel on me, Tsukune. You're kind of heavy," she began.

"Am I hurting you? I can get-" he started to get up, but she pulled him back onto her large breasts again in her all too common smothering embrace.

"Oh no you don't, Mr Aono! You're absolutely fine where you are."

He gave her a surprised false scowl. "Don't call me Mr. Aono! Everyone calls my dad that."

She smiled down at him apologetically. He really was adorable with his face twisted up like that.

Tsukune eventually gave her a cheeky grin, his face mashed between those gloriously soft mounds, even giving the soft valley a small appreciative kiss.

"I was just going to say that you're heavy, but it makes me feel like I'm being protected, comforted. There is no better feeling then knowing this is where you find some peace of mind. It makes me happy to think my heart and my body can give you that. I'm glad, Tsukune, but," She tilted her head at him, giving him another lovely smile. "Do you have any other fantasies? I'm more than happy to try anything with you that you can think of."

She bounced her eyebrows playfully at him, making him chuckle at her daring, "Even something that would be considered way too risque for everyone else to consider normal."

He blushed, looking away.

Seeing that immediately peeked her interest. "Oh? You've got something in mind?" Kurumu saw his skin darken down his neck to his shoulders. The voluptuous succubus's skin at her breasts could feel his heart beat start to pick up.

"I'm embarrassed," He admitted childishly, hiding himself within her soft bosom.

"Hey," she reached for his chin with her small fingers. "There are _no_ limits to what you can tell me, Tsukune. You are my Destined One. I live, I exist, and I want nothing more than to please you in _any_ way I can. I expect you to ask for things to be a little weird or uncomfortable for you to say at first, because that is how wonderful you are and it shows how much you care how I'll react to it. C'mon, Tsukune, tell me. I'll let you know if it's too weird even for me. I won't laugh or think badly of you, I promise."

The young Aono still looked indecisive.

"Let me guess," Kurumu teased, biting her lip and noticing him peek at her cautiously. Kurumu, despite her lack of school knowledge or limited fighting ability, had a VERY creative mind. "You want to try a different position?"

He blinked at her. "There are more positions then what we've tried?"

She grinned wide. "The karma sutra is for amateurs, Tsukune. You should read the book my auntie had made that we keep tucked away under lock and key. Only three were ever made and the men she experimented on are in an insane asylums, drooling and giggling till this day."

"Uhm..." he gulped, "I think I'll pass."

"I'm just saying," she combed her fingers through his hair lovingly, "that level of pleasure is available if you seek it."

"Okay, but, well...no, that's not it."

"Do you want me to pretend to be someone else?" That was another common male fantasy. Men always hungered for what they couldn't have.

She saw Tsukune flinch and look away again.

_Bingo! _"That's fine Tsukune-kun," she purred in his ear. "I don't mind a bit! I can be anyone you want. So who is it? Kyouko? Kokoa? Your mom?"

He made a choking sound and gawked at her. "Yuck! No! How can you even think that?"

"Like I told you, I just want to fulfill whatever fantasy you have. I won't make any judgments no matter what you ask me for."

"But my mom?!" He really did make the funniest faces when he was repulsed by something.

"You'd be surprised how many men think about it. Anyway if it's not any of them who do you want? Scarlet Johansson? Anna Kournikova? Jessica Alba? Monica Belucci? Demi Moore? Aishwarya Rai? Just tell me."

The list had included some of the most beautiful women he could imagine, but scrolling through them, one name kept popping up against his will. So, it was obvious he was fighting some inner turmoil, but in the end, he decided to entrust Kurumu with the one person he feared and desired in his most darkest thoughts.

He hesitated a moment longer before finally stating it in a small guilty whisper. "Ria."


	16. Ch16 Just like Ria

**Ch 16 The Bet**

"I can't believe she showed you this." Tsukune looked away, everything she was showing him only made him ashamed. He never would have done _any _of it if he hadn't believed Kurumu's promise that everything would stay between the two of them.

Shade snapped her fingers, halting the illusion as if pausing a video tape. "Why, Tsukune-sama? Tell me what you see here that makes you feel guilty." Although her voice was quietly curious, it was also serious.

"I only did all of it because she _promised_," he lingered on the word as if it alone was the answer to everything, the sole cause of his shame.

Shade cocked her head to the side, sweeping her voluminous plum colored hair off her shoulder. "You keep harping on that as though it were unforgivable that she felt she _had _to talk to someone about it. Are you saying keeping a promise is more important than helping someone who is suffering? If you saw one of your beloved friends hanging off the side of a cliff ready to fall, but they had made you promise to not help them if they were in trouble, what would you do?"

"That's different!" He shouted, pointing back to the scene frozen before him. "That's life and death, this is about something personal and private! Kurumu told me I could trust her with _anything_! It was only because I believed her that we started the, ah, role playing. This was just a fantasy in my head, a daydream. It was something that I never mentioned to anyone. Certain things are better left alone, like Ria. She's...she's..." He tried to think of a vile enough description.

"Dangerous? Manipulative? Cunning? Ruthless? Evil?" Shade punctuated each word with a little pause.

He swallowed, nodding.

"My kind of girl." She winked at him, making him frown all the more. "But you are forgetting yourself, especially when it comes to my Mumu-chan, Tsukune-sama."

The young Aono frowned. "What do you mean?"

"For starters," She pulled her sunglasses down a bit, peeking over the rims to look at him directly. "Your human and vampire morals have nothing to do with us succubi, we have our own set of beliefs. We view sex and making love as something glorious. It is the very heart of what we are as a race. We," She traced a long finger down the hallow of her neck, the soft but deep valley of her cleavage, then over the plump, thick nipple poking through the burgundy fabric covering a healthy swell of breast, "are _lust_," the word purred from her voice in a smoky, sultry, breathy, exhale, "incarnate."

Tsukune could only watch with his bottom jaw hanging open, his eyes wide. He couldn't believe that with everything going on he was actually getting aroused.

"We _never_ feel regret about being sexual, we encourage it. The idea that sex is something to be ashamed of is a human concept that is utterly foreign to us. Sex is what and who we are, it defines us. When you accepted Mumu-chan into your life, I can only hope that you understood that. You weren't just accepting her, but her own morals and beliefs as well. Do you regret doing that now, Tsukune-sama?"

"I just wish she hadn't told you and not gotten you involved in all this." He said angrily.

"I see," Shade conceded lightly, but tucked her sunglasses higher on her nose. "You don't actually regret anything you **_did_**, only the fact it's not still a secret." Tsukune nodded his agreement. "Well, whatever you prefer the fact remains I _am_ involved now and I intend to make you understand your mistakes."

"My only mistake was trusting Kurumu. She shouldn't have shown you this." He looked away, adding more heat to his voice when said 'Kurumu', making it appear like the source of his growing distaste.

"And **_I_** think she should have," Shade's rebuttal came out sharper and angrier than she'd intended, his willful blindness was starting to really irk her. "Did you know that as succubi, we often watch our family, our friends, even the people we don't care for have sex?"

Tsukune blinked. "That's so-"

"Wrong? Disgusting? Immoral?" She chuckled at him, "Naughty? That's what most humans would think, right?"

Tsukune looked away, feeling he was just being made fun of. "It's supposed to be special. Having people watch you make love to someone cheapens it, reduces it to nothing but a show. I really loved Kurumu-chan and that was something that made it that much harder to accept that she told you about it. Whatever she may feel that I need to get fixed, it was something I put faith in her to not tell anyone about because I thought she loved me."

"I think you're mistaking her perceptions with your own, Tsukune-sama. Mumu-chan **does** love you. I've told you that more than once already. You are her world, her stars, her sky; the reason she exists to take her next breath. The only thing she wants is to please you, but there was something in those moments that scared her so badly she came to her mother and I for help."

"I just don't think it's any of your business." Tsukune growled again, this time clenching his fists.

"I am her aunt! Her family!" Shade's voice took on a very possessive and righteous note, "Anything that hurts Kurano Kurumu definitely _is_ my business. Family loving and helping each other is one concept we succubi do share with humanity."

Seeing that the conversation was going nowhere quickly, she snapped her fingers to proceed with what they originally come for. Once again, Tsukune watched as his life ran its course.

"Ria?" Kurumu's reaction was pure shock. She'd heard the basics of what Moka's eldest sister had done to him and his family. Had Tsukune just up and slapped her out of the blue, she would have given him the same expression.

His eyes looked up at her expectantly, shyly hopeful. Tsukune really wanted this and he was seeking her approval.

Kurumu didn't know _exactly_ who Ria was, she only knew what Moka's sister had done. That was plenty. There wasn't a day that had gone by since Tsukune and Moka's return from dealing with her that Kurumu didn't think of what they had told her. All she had been made aware of was that he'd been blackmailed into spending many nights during the summer vacation with, nights during which Ria'd had her way with him. The details remained a mystery, but it was obvious that it had changed Tsukune and Moka's relationship.

Still, the two of them were closer for it. Not long after Moka had suggested Tsukune start to requite the affections of his other friends, which Kurumu was only too willing to receive. All his friends had asked him to explain what had happened, but he would only say he didn't want to talk about it, that he was glad that everyone was so accepting of the predicament they were all in. In some dysfunctional, but oddly appropriate way, they were now a family. The girls were all grateful to receive his love, even in carefully measured portions. They didn't want to risk damaging this new relationship and so they had just accepted Tsukune's silence about his nights with Ria and assumed it was a part of the past.

"Is that alright, Kurumu-chan?" Tsukune's voice held an almost childlike quiver, as if he was asking if he could get a puppy for the first time, hoping above hope that the answer was yes.

Kurumu gave him her best false smile and wracked her brains.

She wasn't sure how to handle this moment. It wasn't like she didn't know what the woman looked like. Even among succubi, she was quite an eyeful. Dark long raven black hair, smoldering cocoa brown eyes, and a figure that would make some succubi mutter curses at the woman for being so generously proportioned. Then there was her style of dress: dark formal gowns that usually cinched all the way to her neck, long black elbow length gloves, and black stockings with garter belts that seemed to always flash when she moved. Ria showed nothing but hinted at everything, something guaranteed to get a man's full attention.

She had doubts, but the fact he was so blatantly eager settled her decision. "Of course, Tsukune-kun. Anything for you."

"Really?" He was excited, his eyes wide and grateful.

She swallowed, nodding. Gently, she pushed him away from her, after receiving a quick 'thank you' kiss, and went to the candles that surrounded their room in a soft romantic glow. One by one, she extinguished them. The room slowly grew darker with each candle blown out. It wasn't long till there was just enough to leave only shadows and suggestions of face and form.

"Come to me, Tsukune-kun." She pulled a handkerchief from the untouched table and held it in her hands.

Tsukune obeyed, rolling off the bed and strolling up brazenly naked to his beautiful lover. She twirled her finger in the air, motioning for him to turn around. He did so. Kurumu rolled the fabric in her fingers in a makeshift blindfold and eased it over his eyes.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" She whispered in his ear.

"Yes," he croaked, trembling. "Please."

She took his hand and led him to the other side of the room. Their suite had not come cheap and the suite was rather spacious. He reached his free hand out to the side, making sure he didn't run into anything.

"What's the matter Tsukune?" Her loving voice teased. "Don't you trust me?"

"Of course I trust you. It's just...weird being blindfolded." She could hear just the slightest tremble kin his voice.

"Do you like it?" Kurumu's ears perked up, curious.

"It's different." He admitted.

"Well then, we'll have to try this again sometime. Life should be full of new and different experiences."

He grinned at that. "Does everything that you think of have to revolve around sex?"

"No," she brought his hand up to her lips and placed a gentle kiss on it. "Only the things that involve you and making you happy. I live to love you and make you happy Tsukune." She felt slightly embarrassed at her proclamation, but it was just the simple truth.

Stopping her in their tracks, Tsukune reached out for her tenderly. Her partner's other arm entwined her hips, closing the space between them purposely, intimately. "You really are very good to me, Kurumu-chan."

Had he not been blindfolded, he would have seen her blush happily. Did he really understand how completely happy just those few words made her? Knowing he appreciated her and mattered to her, it was like standing beneath the sun and feeling its warm light bathe you. It was so comforting and perfect.

His Illusioned self reflected her grin, unable to stop himself. Shade teased him with a knowing wink.

Still, as much as the memory Tsukune offered his thanks and appreciation, he still had not said what she wanted to hear. That she stood above the other women in his life, and that he could never be without her. She longed for that. For him to say he _needed _her.

"I love you, Tsukune. I really, really do." She meant for him to hear the ache, the hunger for him to want her like she did him.

"I know, Kurumu-chan." He almost sounded sorry, but it was all he seemed capable of offering her.

The blindfold kept him from seeing the tiny bit of hurt in her eyes, though she knew he wouldn't have seen it any way. Why couldn't he just love her the way she did him? Why was it always conditional? Why was there always some string attached?

The ghostly Tsukune and Shade looked on at the scene, and it was the young Aono who flinched. He remembered everything that had happened, but was discovering that from this new perspective he was seeing all sorts of little things he'd missed before.

Now he was just a spectator, he didn't have to measure every word and be on guard for promising something he hadn't meant to. With clear eyes small details were pointed out, he only remembered her saying that she loved him, but now he saw the painful break in her normally cheerful demeanor. He saw her hurt when he had not returned her sentiment. Two tears fell from her eyes and were swiftly wiped away as the real him stood there blind folded and ignorant.

"Kurumu-chan, don't cry." His ghost self went to touch her again, but Shade halted him with only a glance.

His real self tried to kiss her, but she ducked away. At the time he'd thought she was just teasing him, now he saw it was because she had not finished wiping the tears from her face.

"Now, stay right there," She giggled at his playful pout, not a hint of pain or disappointment in her tone. "and I promise to give you what you want."

"O-okay." He spoke with mounting excitement.

Kurumu closed her eyes and focused. It was within almost every monster's ability to hide their appearance, to go from what they really were to a human version of themselves. Some were able to mask their physical attributes quite well, normally without any kind of continued thought or effort being needed to maintain the illusion. There were those who put the bare minimum effort, like their sensei Nekonome. Then, there were creatures who could make almost any illusion physically real, like succubi, vampires, sirens, and others. Beings whose powers to manipulate the brain through their sensory inputs could make their illusions so strong that to the person being affected it became 'real.' Sight, sound, scent, taste touch; the brain reacted as it would to real world stimulus. It was always good to begin with a blank slate when possible, it helped strengthen the effect even more. That was why she had covered his eyes and made him move about a little. She didn't want him to smell her perfume, hear her voice or be able to feel or see her.

Kurumu drew a little bit of her youkai energy into herself, allowing her body to heighten and grow. Her hair lengthened, darkened, and cascaded down past her shoulders. Faux clothing appeared, swaddling her form and covering her from her ankles to her neck with a fine long gown that she remembered seeing her in one time. Kurumu rushed into the restroom quickly, examining herself to ensure she had all the details right. Turning her cheek left, then right, smoothing her hands down the front and sides of her dress to assure the fabric, the gloves, the fit, everything was perfect.

She nodded that it was.

The dreamscape Tsukune winced at the very real life form of Ria now standing in their room, looking uncharacteristically worried. She primped her hair a few times, before deciding where would be the best place for him to see her. He could really see how much thought and effort she was putting into it. At the time he had just assumed that it had been easy for her. Seating herself comfortably on the bed, she decided to try a pose for him. Kurumu went through several angles, positions. Some were prim, proper, others were completely uncomfortably looking. One pose she tried was ridiculously done in really bad taste, which she quickly dismissed.

The ghostly Tsukune choked at the idea that Kurumu would even consider that one.

It had been with Ria flat on her back with her legs straight up in the air, one hand pulling the black panties aside to reveal her treasure in all its naked glory.

"That's just embarrassing."

"Don't mock," Shade scolded. "If you had liked it, she would have done it, no matter how she made herself appear."

His ghostly self continued to watch, mildly distressed at Kurumu's antics.

Eventually, Kurumu decided the bed was not where she wanted him to first see her. Gathering the long fine fabric in her gloved hands, she marched up to Tsukune, exhaling one last calming breath, muttering too low for him to hear, but loud enough for Shade and the dreamscape Tsukune, "I can do it. I can do it...just, relax. This is for him."

She quietly crossed the room, slid her gloved fingers, her palms along his beautifully defined abdomen, to the criss-cross scar on his chest, then over his shoulders. The moment she touched him, he practically rippled with pleasure. The hitch in his breath was something she only heard when he was almost ready to climax.

"Kurumu...chan?"

She kissed him, slowly; lazily drag of her lips against his. The groan he exhaled was rewarding to her, knowing that she had indeed got everything right. His hands were on the fabric of her sizable hips.

"Kurumu?" Kurumu's voice was an identical match for Ria's rich, thick womanly one. Her deep timbre made Tsukune's cock visibly twitch. "I don't know who that is, brother, dear, but I think we better enjoy ourselves before my little sister comes back, don't you?"

Kurumu clearly enjoyed playing the role of the seductive older sister chasing after her imotou's boyfriend.

The muscles around Tsukune's neck tightened, his skin literally started to perspire. "R-ria?"

'Ria' removed the blindfold from Tsukune's eyes and he jumped back as if expecting to be struck, nearly knocking the food tray and table over in the process.

Kurumu could honestly say she had _NEVER_ seen Tsukune react like that to any of the girls.

"You're not going to be able to enjoy me from all the way over there, you silly boy. Or are you trying to tease me by having me come to you?"

With Ria's dark eyes and beautifully full blood red mouth, Tsukune's heart could only palpitate hard in his chest. He was literally panting with his eyes as wide as saucers. Ria, his tormentor and temptress, was here in the room that he and Kurumu had shared.

Kurumu was very excited by his reaction. It was well known that exploring a fantasy was a very healthy expression of both love and trust between partners. Kurumu was not blind to the fact that Outer Moka was a prim and proper girl, similar in some ways to Mizore. Both girls were unlikely to be very explorative or daring in the bedroom, eager to enjoy the moments shared with Tsukune, but in tame conventional ways. Inner Moka was a greedy lover; always ensuring Tsukune pleased her first before his needs were met. Ruby...well, she was not so much a lover as she was an eager slave seeking a master to punish her all the time.

_Weirdo_, Kurumu thought. _What sort of person wants to be treated that way?_

It would be at least two more years before Yukari was thrown into the picture, but that didn't give the extremely eager fourteen year old any lack of desire to think of scenarios over and over...and over and over again. Needless to say, she was also quite vocal about them.

When 'Ria' crossed over to Tsukune, he stiffened when she touched his face with her gloved hand. "Don't look at me like that, brother dear. We don't have much time. Come; let's see if we can make ourselves a little more comfortable. Would you help me with my dress?"

She turned her back to him, lifting her hair so that he could assist her.

"No," Tsukune said with a shake of his head.

Kurumu looked over her shoulder with Ria's face, Ria's eyes. "Oh? You prefer me to stay as I am? Well, that is a lovely idea."

She took his hands and placed them over the cloth of 'Ria's' large pillowy breasts, but he shook his head again and pulled his hand back.

"Tsukune? What's wrong?" Although still in Ria's voice, Kurumu's worry was obvious as well as her confusion. It had started off wonderfully, why was he suddenly acting disinterested?

"This is wrong." He turned away from her looking disappointed.

Kurumu misunderstood and thought it was still part of the role play; him playing the guilty boyfriend who needed to be convinced to accept the older sister's advances.

Ria barely schooled her grin before pressing her chest against his back, rolling herself against Tsukune in a very memorable gyration. "Of course it is, but I promise not to tell imouto if you don't. You can't deny what we are both feeling...dear...brother."

Sighing in exasperation, Tsukune moved away from her and looked even more disappointed.

"Kurumu, stop. I don't think this is going to work."

It was Kurumu's turn to show a small bit of bruised pride that she had not succeeded where she was sure to have excelled.

"What's wrong, Tsukune? Is my face wrong? Do you not like the dress? Do I smell bad?"

"It's not that, Kurumu-chan," Tsukune placed his hands tentatively on 'Ria's' shoulders, looking into those dark orbs without the normal trepidation he usually felt. Trying to figure out the best, most delicate way to explain it to her, he decided the truth would be best without trying to sugar coat it.

"You're being too nice," he brushed a long lock of dark hair away from her face, still smiling at her.

"Oh," Ria's eyes jumped up playfully. If it was just a demeanor issue, that could be easily fixed. "How should I be then? Should I be more sultry? Maybe a little more teasing?" She turned her shoulder at him, smiling over it like most models would.

"Perhaps be a little aloof and dignified?" Now she purposely tilted her nose in the air, offering a simpering 'hmph' and sashayed away from him in a dignified huff towards the bed. "Just tell me what you'd like from me, and I will perform as promised."

"Cruel." The word left his mouth with such hunger 'Ria' almost fell over herself. "I want you to be cruel to me."

"P-pardon?" Ria gave him a mortified stare. "But, Tsukune...you seriously mean...?"

When he nodded his head, he did so with vigor, glad to see she was starting to understand.

"You have to be cruel to me," Tsukune told her eagerly. "When you're nice to me, I see you, not Ria."

She took that as a compliment and high praise. However...

"This time, you have to be heartless, okay?" Tsukune told her. "I don't want you to care anything about my feelings."

Even though her head was moving up and down, she really didn't understand why he would want that.

"To be Ria, you have to treat me like I'm nothing. _Hurt_ me, _humiliate_ me, think _nothing_ of my shame or my pain." His smile was so large all his teeth were visible, his eyes were nearly as wide as hers, but for her it was more the fact she was alarmed rather than interested. Her Tsukune's words came out fast and passionate, unwilling to hide what he had kept as a dark secret for so long. He excitedly told her _exactly _what he wanted. Pleased to open his heart with her and share something no one else would ever be permitted to see.

"Make me nothing but your dog. Mock me with a soft voice, with kind words. Control me, force me into whatever shape you like. I want you to **_hate_** me. I want you to make me bleed and suffer. That's what I want, do that and don't worry if you hurt me."

Kurumu listened and could hear his ascending excitement. As he was still naked she could also clearly see how much the idea of being abused turned him on. Though she hid it with simple nods, Kurumu couldn't help but feel reviled and disgusted. Tsukune wasn't just the one she loved, he was her hero. She could still remember back when she had stolen the scared ordinary boy with her charm, who had also gotten between her and a rightfully angry vampire. He'd protected her and the others he loved time and again, putting his life on the line without a second thought. To hear him talking this way just sickened her.

This wasn't the real Tsukune at all...or was it?

_My God Tsukune! What did this horrible woman do to you?_

As a succubus she understood that love making and the giving of pleasure could take all forms. That could also include inflicting small amounts of pain. She had no objection to that and wouldn't have minded if he'd wanted to spank her or tie her up, perhaps experimented with a few toys or outfits, but what he was asking for didn't seem like healthy role playing. Like all succubi, she firmly believed that the act of lovemaking (in all its forms) was healthy and healing. What he was asking didn't seem to be that.

"Ah, are you sure Tsukune?" 'Ria' looked a bit flustered which further ruined the illusion for him.

Tsukune shook his head angrily at her, his hands fisted at his sides and yelled, "_Don't_ ask something like that and _don't_ sound like you care. That ruins it!"

"Sor… sorry," she couldn't help but feel flustered, worse though all she was her getting him more and more agitation.

She'd been confident she knew everything she needed to be able to completely satisfy her Destined One. Now, unfortunately, she found herself totally out of her depth. Kurumu had never ever imagined that her darling would want anything like this. She suddenly wished she could talk to her mom or her auntie. "Tsukune… maybe this is a bad idea."

She saw the look of disappointment cross his face. "Oh, I'm sorry Kurumu," he looked down in shame. "It's just when you said anything, and I, ah, thought it would be okay. It's my fault. I shouldn't have brought it up."

She'd disappointed him.

He'd wanted to try something that was obviously very difficult for him to admit and she'd gone and made him feel he was imposing on her! The Ria clone clenched her fists and gritted her teeth when he looked regretfully away. Her determined stare was similar to how Moka would look before facing a powerful monster. Kurumu's Destined One really wanted this from her! She could see that it was something he would never ever ask for from Moka or Mizore or probably even from Ruby. This was something she **alone** could do for him! What did it matter that she wasn't comfortable with it? This wasn't about her! She'd said anything and she'd meant it. If this was what he wanted she would give it to him.

"No Tsukune, it's fine really," Ria said in her gentle melodic voice. "I'm just not sure what exactly you want. I need you to guide me through it step by step. Okay?"

"Are you sure Kurumu?"

She forced her own doubt and nervousness down and thought only about him. If it was for her Destined One she could do anything. She gave him a teasing smile and tilted her head to the side just a fraction. "Oh me, oh my, I'm sure Tsukune."

His breath caught. The inflection of her voice, the teasing look in her eye. They were so perfect that she really did become Ria for an instant. He felt his cock harden, his heart begin to pick up and his hands shake.

"Te… tell me to come kneel on the bed in front of you."

Ria walked near him, barely turning her head to the side to address him. Normally, in a polite way. "Excuse me," she saw him begin to look disappointed. It wasn't what he wanted.

_Put yourself into character, _she thought. _Be what he wants! _Firming her jaw she spoke again. This time without any hint of politeness or concern.

"Move!"

He jumped out of the way so quickly with the look of utter fear that he knocked over the glasses of champagne that had been untouched on the table, spilling it over onto the floor.

"I'm sor-" He began, but Ria had already made a place for herself on the bed, sitting herself down primly, completely ignoring him.

His breathing had quickened as he wiped his hands on his thighs when he felt them perspire. It was as if he had found the unattainable before him and it was as wonderful as he remembered.

Without even glancing at him, 'Ria' crossed her legs, and started to tug at her elbow length gloves, taking her time and not even acknowledging him.

It was just as he remembered.

_Perfect, just perfect_, he thought.

The Illusion Tsukune was trembling, all of his focus on the dark goddess lounging casually on the bed. He was waiting to see what she was going to do next. The fact that she was doing nothing more than preening herself as he waited was agonizing torture.

_What will she do? What could she ask of me? How will I know what she wants when she doesn't even-_

"On your face, brother dear." Her lilting voice wasn't even directed at him, nor her eyes. The command, however, brought him scrambling to her feet, eager to do as she asked. He prostrated himself before her, very much as someone might for their god.

Ria's eyes did catch him this time, he froze as if looking into his death.

"Did I say come to me? No, I did not." She had no anger or distress in any way when she asked him, it was just the tone of her being displeased. It was enough to send a visible shiver down his spine. "Go back over there you _filthy rodent_ and lie on your face. If I find some purpose for you, I will have you serve me. Until them, remain silent and unmoving."

His erection hardened against his leg, his whole body became tinted with a blushing desire.

"Yes, Ria-sama." He breathed reverently.

_Tsukune..._ Kurumu was still a little worried about how he was reacting so favorably to this. She had used some of the trademark tricks her auntie had used during one very brutal display of verbal dominance, and it had been nothing more than her turning a man into her all too willing punching bag. Just as her aunt had done she spent several minutes simply ignoring him. Allowing his own tensions to build as he wondered what would come next and when.

"Come," She finally let her eyes glance over his naked frame, admiring the taunt flex of his back when he began to move.

Before he could get within a foot of her, she spoke again, cold and heartless, "I know you are man, therefore I expect certain levels of stupidity from you, but do you have to be deaf, dumb and completely useless?"

"R-ria...sama?"

Ria sighed in restrained patience.

"When you come to me, you don't do so with you feet or your body erect." She gestured languidly, even going as far as letting her gaze settle on his thick penis in front of her. It was a strong sense of discipline for Kurumu to not take matters into her own hands...or mouth...and continue where her Destine One's desires were obviously leading.

Tsukune's baffled look was enough to punctuate the raised feathery dark brow over Ria's eye.

"Over there, on your face, and slowly _crawl_ to me, on the floor like the _thing_ you are," her next words were contemptuous, accusingly mocking, "Brother dear."

"Yes, Ria-sama," he obediently scuttled back to where he had been, knelt, and began to drag the side of his face against the carpet, laboriously moving one limb in front of the other. When he finally got up to a few inches of her dark strapped heels, about to kiss them.

"Don't...even...touch me without my permission, you disgusting vermin." Ria chided with each word coming out in a sharp hiss.

"Please forgive me, Ria-sama. I am unworthy." Tsukune groveled before her, supplicating himself fully and without any need to be reprimanded about pride or hope of any kind of self worth.

"I know," she said airily, as if her burden was heavy and she had to suffer him. "But, now you need to amuse me."

"Anything you want, Ria-sama. I am yours to use at your whim." He sounded so eager, so hopeful that she would do so.

Shade suddenly clapped her hands, earning a sheepish cry of surprise from Tsukune.

"I taught her that," She announced proudly, unable to hold her superior preen.

"Isn't this something that I'm supposed to feel guilty about? The part that you're supposed to expose how badly I treated Kurumu?" Tsukune asked curiously. He was a bit confused about the supposed lessons this whole mess was about.

"Oh, you'll know it when you see, Tsukune-sama." Shade gestured for him to pay attention to the moments at hand.

"Tsukune...I don't know what you want me to do from here," Kurumu's apologetic confession with Ria's voice seemed like nails across the chalk board to him.

When he looked up, he appeared desperate for her to not change character in the middle of this session.

"You're doing great, Kurumu-chan. Wonderful. I'm very proud of you."

The beautiful, serene and elated smile on Ria's face sickened Tsukune, so he had to turn away or else loose the high he was enjoying. Lowering his eyes and prostrating himself in front of her. "Now slap me."

"What?" Ria squawked, unable to comprehend the level of role play they were about to explore.

Shade narrowed her mismatched amethyst and sapphire eyes towards the real Tsukune, folding her arms across her impressive chest and zeroed her most accusing glare. "Now this is where you can start to feel guilty, Mr Aono Tsukune."

Without any doubt, he knew that she was going to reveal the basis of why everything, from the time with his wife in the restroom at the wedding reception, the whole exchange between Ria and herself at their father's mansion, the reasons she came to visit them to have a mixture of life and death battles, and show the love and regret histories presented before him in the next following moments.


	17. Ch17 Ria's memories

**AN: Okay, for this chapter I cheated and cut and pasted chapters from Lord of the Land of Fire's story The Might Vampire Aono. Basically this and the next chapter are a recap for those of you who have not read his story will understand a bit of why everything is going to happen after wards. Without further delay, here is your story. **

* * *

Sakitan Ria's dark eyebrows arched at the caller ID number on her ringing on her cell phone. She had asked Shade to call her if there were any problems when she met the happy couple at their little hideaway. There was never a doubt in her mind that the arrogant succubus would find herself in over her head. The number on her cell was not Shade's though; it was from the agent she had placed as the limo driver. Her servants knew better than to call her unless it was truly urgent.

She wanted to win the bet, humble that cocky slut, and ensure she knew her proper place, but seeing the driver calling her unexpectedly could only be a bad sign. For the life of her she couldn't imagine what the problem could be. Moka would be furious with the woman for what she'd done and would easily deal with her. If Tsukune joined in it would not even be a fight. Two vampires versus one succubus (or even an arch succubus) was simple overkill. She doubted Tsukune would actually participate, he was far more likely to try and solve things through compromise. He might even try to restrain her imouto, but there was little chance of that. She knew Tsukune could deny his wife nothing.

Ria answered the phone with a note of caution. What if Moka had gone too far and actually killed her? That would make things a bit complicated since her Lord and father wanted to meet Shade later. It could potentially be even worse if he learned all the details of her involvement.

Looking at her watch she noticed she was going to be late for a meeting at the corporate office if she were delayed with this. She couldn't waste time with this nonsense. Fun was fun, but her father had mentioned that funds were being siphoned from one of the corporate accounts. The amount was trivial, a few million US dollars, but **no one** was allowed to steal what was his. He wanted her to deal with the problem and report back. She had no intention of missing this meeting or disappointing him.

"Speak," she snapped when she answered her phone, anticipating bad news.

The voice on the other end was nervous and excited about giving the details of what he'd seen. Apparently her sister and Shade had been going toe to toe, no surprise there, however the fight had ended in some kind of weird stalemate where Shade was the victor and Moka was left paralyzed.

_She actually lost? _Ria thought with disgust. Her sister was even more of a weakling than she'd thought possible. "It's probably just an illusion. She'll be fine. Now what of…" She pushed the phone away from her ear as the limo driver yelled. "Shit! He's trying to kill her!"

"Who? You can't mean Tsukune." Tsukne didn't have it in him to kill anyone. Of this she was absolutely certain. He had, after all, spared her even after everything she'd done to him and his family.

"Yes!" Her agent spoke in an excited high pitch. "He's killing her right now!"

_What is going on over there? Moka loses to a lesser being and Tsukune starts to act like a real vampire? Just what did that idiot woman do?_

"Explain," she commanded.

It didn't take long for her to figure out that Tsukune was choking Shade and she was desperately trying to resist.

Ria's gloved hand was tapping anxiously against the arm rest. "That won't do. Is she fighting back or does it look like you're going to have to intervene?" Her agent was nothing but a lowly goblin, but if he sacrificed himself it might buy that fool woman a chance to escape.

A relieved sigh was heard through the speaker of the phone and the limo driver said, "Okay, they both just slumped forward and look exhausted. I think they've fainted."

"I see. You've done well. Keep me posted if anything else of note happens." She closed her phone and tapped it to her chin.

Ria didn't like it; her little game was starting to get out of hand. She'd meant to cause her precious sister some grief while she manipulated things from behind the scenes. Getting her father involved had been no part of her plan and neither was having one of the players die. She needed to diffuse the situation. She couldn't do anything directly, not only because of the meeting but also because her appearance was likely to have the opposite effect. Things were too fragile to leave as they were; a little extra help was called for.

The question was who?

It only took a moment to deliberate for her to realize the simple answer to that question. Flipping her phone open and tossing her thick dark hair out of the way of her ear, she immediately got an operator. "Give me Kurano Kurumu's number." She demanded silkily.

While she was waiting, she couldn't help but reminisce about how this had all begun, especially when it came to her meeting with Aono Tsukune. Unconsciously, she licked her lips when she thought back to when they first met at her father's castle. He'd certainly been deliciously naive and fidgety, she thought. He'd proven delicious in _all _sorts of ways.

It all started at the steps of Castle Akashiya where she had her first glimpse of him and her dear sister...

* * *

Behind the Youkai Barrier in one of the Castles claimed by the Elder Lord Akashiya.

"Welcome home little sister."

Before them a stunningly beautiful woman appeared out of the mist. She was dressed in a gown of ebony and silver which completely covered her from her neck to her feet. She also wore gloves so that the only part of her that was uncovered was her face.

She had incredibly long and thick hair that ran all the way down her back and was the color of ravens' feathers. Her eyes were red and slitted, the eyes of a vampire or a demon. They flickered from Moka's face to his and lingered just a moment before returning. Something in the way those eyes measured him made Tsukune uneasy.

The woman's full, blood red lips turned up into a wolfish grin revealing her fangs. She held out her arms in a gesture of welcome. "Oh me, oh my, the prodigal sister has returned at last. Come and give me a hug."

"Ria! It's so good to see you again!" Moka eagerly embraced her older sister.

The young woman then turned her full attention to Tsukune. "And what's this? You brought a snack with you! Oh me, oh my, how thoughtful." She took a step closer to him. "He smells delicious, mind if I have a bite?"

"I'm not food!" Tsukune took a couple quick steps back.

Ria's eyes seemed to dance. "I know, I was only teasing." She turned back to her sister. "He frightens easily doesn't he?"

"He's much better than he used to be," Moka said defensively.

"Well, going up the food chain will do that for you. You must be Aono Tsukune, the one little Moka has written so much about." Pulling up her skirt a bit she performed a graceful old fashioned curtsy lowering her eyes and face. "I am most pleased to meet you. I am Moka's eldest sister, Sekitan Ria."

He bowed to her. "I am happy to meet you too. I couldn't help but notice you have a different last name."

Rising out of her curtsy she looked at him with amusement. "Yes, Moka and I are only half sisters, same father different mother. Our other two sisters Kahlua and Kokoa also have a different mother and their last name is Shuzen." She glanced back at her sister.

"Moka's mother was the only one father actually married."

Moka began pressing her fingers together nervously.

"Will I be meeting her mother too?" Tsukune spoke up bringing Ria's attention back to him. "She only mentioned her father and sisters."

"My mother left here when I was very young Tsukune," she answered quietly.

"Ah, sorry Moka-san, I didn't know."

"She hasn't told you much has she?" Ria noted. "Probably didn't want to scare you off."

"That's not so!" Moka said.

"We'll see," she answered. "In any case why are the two of you still in human form? This isn't the academy. This is a household of vampires; you really should try and look the part."

Moka nodded. "Tsukune you should remove your rosario. Things will go more smoothly if you're a vampire."

Nodding himself he pulled his rosario free and was transformed.

Ria looked him over with obvious approval. "Oh me, on my, I can see why Moka turned you."

He felt a bit embarrassed at her attention and Moka frowned at her elder sister.

"What about you Moka-san? Do you want me to remove your rosario?"

One of Ria's coal black eyebrow rose ever so slightly.

"No Tsukune, taking it off and keeping it off for so long might damage the seal."

"Oh me, oh my, what a silly worry. I'm sure father would be happy to restore the seal if necessary." Without warning and without asking permission Ria snapped off Moka's rosario, causing demonic energy to surround and swirl about her.

"You can remove Moka's rosario?" Tsukune asked in surprise.

"When father placed the magical seal on this rosario he set a condition on who could remove it. Normally the vampire using a rosario can remove it, as in your case. But Moka asked father to prevent that. She was still a child then and was afraid she might pull it off in a moment of desperation or despair. So he set it so only three people could remove it; himself, her mother, and me. So I am rather curious as to how _you _are able to manage it."

"That is a question for father, not Tsukune." The now transformed Moka answered coolly. "But given the fact his ability to do so has saved our lives on multiple occasions I am glad for it."

Ria looked at the angry Moka and seemed pleased. "Now there's the sister I remember, proud, strong, and clever. Though never quite as clever as you thought."

"And you also are as I remember; sly, deceiving and far too clever for your own good."

"Oh me, oh my, you say such sweet things little sister."

* * *

It was not long after that Moka declared Tsukune was her lover and that she meant to introduce him to father. That had shocked Ria beyond anything else her little sister could have told her. To not only announce him as a lover and to share a room within the castle, but to introduce him to the Lord Akashiya, Elder Vampire and One of the Three Youkai Lords was not something anyone did on a whim. It was a great show of endearment and would immediately require special attention.

Taking a lover was not anything of note. Vampires were sensual beings used to taking what they wanted and had their own particular moral code. Ria had had dozens and never made any secret of them. Her father would not object to Moka's taking one and would likely be pleased, seeing it as a sign of Moka's growing maturity.

What had been shocking was the fact she had not only brought him to the castle but had actually introduced him to their father. Ria had _never _brought any of her lovers home with her and would never have considered introducing them. They were nothing but toys for her amusement and pleasure. She played with them until she grew bored then forgot them completely. They were temporary, irrelevant, and meaningless. For Moka to go to the trouble of arranging a meeting with father meant she saw Tsukune as a _permanent _part of her life.

Thinking of Moka made her eyes narrow in bitter frustration. She had a sudden urge to destroy something, but crushing her cell would serve no purpose, especially when she was still supposed to get this phone call connected to Shade's niece. A message was announced after the phone rang a few times.

Apparently Kurumu went to go get a few things and would be back soon. Hopefully within the next half hour or so, Ria looked down at her watch. There was still time to spare and she was on schedule.

Her little trip down memory lane made her full blood red lips curve in a rare show of reverie.

Kokoa had reintroduced herself as she usually did whenever she saw her favorite sister, by attacking her with a huge weapon. Ria had taken the opportunity to acquaint herself with Tsukune by playing a game of chess with him. Thinking back on how poorly he'd played at first she had to give him credit for not giving up and enduring all her questions that she asked. (She'd come to realize since that was the quality that defined him best; patient endurance.) He was very polite and accepting of her, even when she was cordially insulting and mocking him. Despite her friendly warnings over several games, she decided to give him a sample of life within the Akashiya family. It was obvious that Moka had shielded Tsukune from the realities of what they were. She would give him an education as to what it _really _meant to be associated with the Akashiya family. And if she accidentally scared the poor boy away and broke Moka's fragile heart, well, that would just be a little bonus.

She took him to visit Azkarra, London, and Tokyo, and was introduced to all his little quirks and mannerisms.

The little excursion to Azkarra was highly amusing and informative._ How did that day go again_, she mused. _Oh yes..._

* * *

After a short time in the tunnel they came out onto a vast rocky plateau that was high above a barren and empty landscape. In the middle of the plateau was a chaotic mass of tents and small wooden shops. From a distance it reminded Tsukune of a huge open air market. Surrounding the market were a series of billboards. The limo came to a stop directly in front of one.

"Here we are," Ria announced. "Azkarra, the secret world of the dijin, also known as genies." She reached down and picked up a large leather purse. She smiled at him. _This will be fun. _"I think I should warn you, the dijin are very powerful magic users and have cast some special enchantments over their world. They're a race of merchants and traders you see. You can buy and sell almost anything here, for the right price."

"What sort of enchantments?" He'd had plenty of experience with magic, both good and bad.

"Oh me, oh my, I think it will be _much _more entertaining if I let you find out on your own."

She stepped out of one side of the limo and he out the other. The instant his feet touched the ground he was surrounded by a swirl of demonic energy. His body transformed to a vampire's even though he still had the rosario on his wrist. He looked over to Ria to see she too had transformed. He could see her rosario still around her neck.

"What the hell just happened?" He asked her fearfully. "Did our rosarios stop working?!"

Ria shook her head calmly. "Nothing to panic about Tsukune, it's just one of the enchantments I mentioned." She pointed to the billboard right in front of them, It read:

**LET NO LIE BE SPOKEN. LET NO DECEPTION STAND. LET YOUR WISH BE GRANTED, AND THE PRICE PAID.**

"The Dijin have a bad reputation for driving hard bargains. So to help convince people to continue to do business with them they cast enchantments that make it impossible to offer any sort of deception. As long as we are here these enchantments override the power of our rosarios and we appear as we really are." She explained.

"By the way," she asked innocently. "What race did you used to be?"

"I'd still rather not say."

She frowned a bit, and then thought of a question that would cause him to lie. "Do you want to see me naked?"

He gaped at her. "Yes! Of course I do!" He froze in horror. That was _not _what he'd mean to say!

"Oh me, oh my! What a naughty boy you are! I don't think Moka would be happy to find out you want to see her sister naked." She wore a delighted grin as she watched Tsukune squirm.

"I didn't mean to say that! Honestly, I think you're a very beautiful woman and not only would I really would like to see your naked body, but I would love to suck on your nipples." Tsukune snapped his mouth shut. _I can't believe I said that again! What the hell is wrong with me?!_

Ria didn't seem at all embarrassed by his very sincere proclamation. If anything, she seemed greatly appreciative._  
_

"Tell me Tsukune, what do you feel for my sister?"

"I care for her very much; she is the most precious person in the world to me." He was relieved that, that had come out as he'd wanted.

"Are you serious about becoming her mate?"

_I really haven't given it much thought, _he decided to say. "Yes, I love her and want to be with her forever." He gasped. That was a lot more than he'd even told Moka yet.

"Would you do _anything_ to be with my sister?"

"Yes," he answered.

She nodded. "And what has Moka told you about me?"

"That you're a liar and a schemer and that whatever you tell me I shouldn't believe." He hadn't meant to tell her that!

"Well, I can't say I'm surprised."

Tsukune looked at the billboard. 'LET NO LIE BE SPOKEN.' He then stared at Ria. "This is another part of the enchantment! It makes you tell the truth!"

She nodded. "What better way to combat the image of dishonesty than to make it impossible to lie? Of course what people don't realize is that as long as you don't deliberately lie you can still say whatever you please. Lies of omission and false assumptions are not affected."

"You tricked me!"

"Yes I did."

"Why?"

"Because if you _do _try to lie the enchantment forces you to admit what you really think. It was a wonderful opportunity to find out more about you Tsukune. Oh, and so you know, I _already _knew you wanted to see me naked." She ran her tongue over her lips. "If you want I'll let you see me any time you like. I may even let you do more."

His face darkened. "I would never cheat on Moka-san!"

"How admirable," she said. "You know I like you Tsukune."

"You do?" He asked suspiciously.

"I do, and you know that's no lie." She told him. _But whether I like you or not won't keep me from doing what I need to. _"Now come on, I still have work to do."

XXXXXXXXXX

Entering Azkarra proper it was packed with all sorts of people. Most of them seemed human, surprisingly enough, though he spotted witches and a few monsters. Sensing their auras the people all made way for them as they walked along the dirt street between the tents and wood stalls. None of the buildings here seemed to be permanent; it really did remind him of an open air market.

He noticed that the 'shopkeepers' the dijin were all blue skinned and completely without hair, the men and the women. From their stalls and tents they shouted out their goods. Anything and everything seemed available; books, clothes, weapons, modern equipment like computers and cell phones as well as exotic animals and more unique items like potions and scrolls. A few stalls simply offered 'wishes.'

Ria stopped at a small stand that was selling ice cream and bought a cone for each of them.

"I love ice cream," she told him.

"How can they sell wishes?" Tsukune asked curiously.

"The dijin are very powerful magic users," she explained. "With the proper spells it's not hard to fulfill most desires. Ninety nine percent of all wishes are some variation on just three themes; make me rich, make me powerful, make me loved. Child's play for an expert magic user."

"And how do people pay for their wishes?"

Ria grinned. "Oh the dijin will find _something _of value have no doubt." She pointed to a bald blue skinned female having a furious argument with a little old man. "There are no set prices here, everything is open to negotiation. The Dijin are as famous for their bargaining skills as they are for their magic."

"Are we here for you to get a wish fulfilled?"

"No," she said. "I'm not stupid enough to make a bargain for that. The price is always too high. I'm just here to pick up a particular item."

Through the twisting streets she led them without fail or hesitation until they came to a small non descript stand with various bottles and containers on the wooden shelves. The merchant was a short fat man whose neck was completely hidden under gold chains. He gave her a greasy smile and held out his arms as though he actually expected her to embrace him. "Ah! Greetings Sekitan Ria! It is always an honor to see you!"

She leaned over and embraced him warmly. "Melzar! How I hate seeing your fat ugly face! How are you, you worthless piece of scum?"

"Heh, you know you don't need to be _that_ honest about your feelings."

She smiled at him. "And you know that the only reason I don't rip your heart out and eat it is because I would be banned from returning. Now where is my item?"

"Right here," reaching below the counter he produced a round leather case. "The Lilith Mirror, as your father requested. My payment?"

She reached into her purse and pulled out a solid bar of pure gold. Placing it on the wooden counter it creaked. She took the case and slipped it into her purse.

"A pleasure doing business with you as always."

She nodded. "Goodbye you worthless toad."

XXXXXXXXXX

"That was kind of rude of you," Tsukune said as they headed out.

"Dijin aren't the sort you should waste good manners on." She said.

"Moka's never that rude to people, even ones she's fighting."

Ria smiled at him and licked her ice cream. "Oh Moka isn't like a typical vampire at all."

Tsukune smiled. "Yeah, she is pretty amazing even among vampires."

"That's not what I meant Tsukune," she said. "I meant that for all her pride and strength she is missing something that is basic to most vampires. Something that I happen to have in abundance."

"What's that?"

She smiled at him playfully and took another lick of her ice cream. "Cruelty."

He looked over at her. "You don't seem cruel to me, especially not while you're eating ice cream."

She laughed. "Does that mean only the good and pure of heart like ice cream?" She shook her head playfully. "You still don't understand what it means to be a vampire, or what it means to potentially join this family. We recognize other vampires and a few of the other races as equals. But all the rest are beneath us, and we can use them as we please."

"Do you really think that way?" He asked.

She licked her ice cream and smiled. "Let's go to my second stop, it should be interesting."

* * *

A small chuckle escaped her lips considering what she had introduced Tsukune to on that next trip. It would have been wonderful to have him work with her in the family business, if only for the amusement of listening to him spout those idealistic views of his. It had been a complete riot to see him get flustered at the sight of some thieves stealing from one of her father's warehouses. He had actually suggested calling the police! She laughed at the memory of that. Despite knowing Moka he had no idea how vampires dealt with things.

_To think, after they were beaten to an inch of their lives, he wanted to call the police._

_Oh, how delightfully funny he was! Where were they again? London, that's right and it was late in the evening..._

* * *

When they arrived in London it was night time. Looking out through the tinted window he saw the streets empty.

"We're going to the docks to meet some people," she told him. "I think I should warn you these people are dangerous. Well, as dangerous as humans can be. You should be ready to pull off your rosario if necessary."

"If these people are dangerous why are you meeting with them?"

"They've been stealing from my father. Among his many holdings he owns tankers and other merchant vessels. Criminals here at the London docks have been helping themselves to some of the cargo from various ships in dock. I am here to put an end to that."

"Why put yourself in danger though? This is the human world; you don't need to fight them. Why not go to the police?"

She gawked at him and laughed. "The police! Oh me, oh my, but you are a real innocent aren't you?! We don't rely on humans to handle our problems for us, we handle them ourselves." She smiled at him. "Will you be my back up? I don't actually need any help but I'd like you to see this."

"If you're going to be in a fight I'll definitely help you."

"Thank you Tsukune, you have such a noble spirit."

XXXXXXXXXX

Kobiyashi Sankaku, that was the name of the freighter tied to the dock. In warehouse 23 ten men were busy moving crates that had been off loaded onto a couple trucks.

"Oh me, oh my, look at the rats scurrying about."

The men all stopped and looked around frantically. They saw a woman in a long dress and a guy in a business suit walking towards them. The men all grabbed bats, crowbars, and anything else that was handy. One of them pulled out a .38 Smith and Wesson and aimed it at the woman's head. "Who the hell are you?!" He barked at her.

She looked at him and gave him a slight nod in recognition. "My name is Ria and I work for the person who owns the goods you are stealing."

"Is that so?" The man with the gun asked.

"Yes," she said. "I've come here to stop your thefts."

Tsukune was not impressed by the men he was facing. Even the gun didn't really worry him. Having fought just about every sort of nightmare monster a bunch of poorly armed gangsters didn't seem like much. Fortunately he'd learned English in school. "If you put down your weapons we can end this peacefully."

Their leader swung the gun from Ria's head to his. "Is that a joke? You just come in here with your thumbs up you asses and you think we're going to give ourselves up? You've been watching too much of the telly mate. Bobby, Tim tie them up."

A couple men grabbed some rope and approached them. As one reached to grab Ria's arm she caught his wrist and held it in place. "Did I say you could touch me you filthy human pig?" There was an audible 'snap' and the man began to cry out as his arm was broken. She took hold of her rosario and yanked it off. "Know your place!"

Tsukune followed her example and pulled his off as well.

The men stood there rooted to the spot as they felt some kind of horrible power fill the air around them. Before their eyes the two intruders changed, becoming pale and having their eyes turn red.

"What the hell?!" Their leader screamed. Panicked he fired his gun twice aiming at Tsukune.

With a vampire's senses he seemed to be moving in slow motion. Dodging a couple shots was child's play for him. He pulled the gun from the man's hand and easily knocked him out with a single punch to the head.

The others tried to run as soon as they saw the gunman go down. Some ran for the door while a couple ran for the trucks. Together he and Ria knocked them all out before they could get more than fifteen feet.

"Thank you for your help Tsukune," Ria said. She went over to the unconscious leader.

"No problem, I was happy to help. So what now?"

She smiled at him and kneeled over the leader. "Now's the _fun _part!" She grabbed him by the throat, yanked him close, then bit his neck.

This was no little sinking of fangs like the ones Moka had always given him or like the ones he'd given Moka and Kurumu. Ria bit down on the man's neck with her mouth open wide and **tore **it open. The blood squirted straight up into her face and poured down over him.

"AAAHH!!" he woke up and began screaming and clawing at his ruined throat.

Laughing she tossed him to the warehouse floor.

"What are you doing?!" Tsukune screamed at her.

"I _told _you, this is the fun part! Come on! Help yourself! It's so much fun!" She grabbed another one with one hand and pulled him up. She again sank her teeth in and ripped him open sending the blood gushing out. Her face was covered in it. She was laughing in absolute bliss.

She tossed him aside and went towards another one when Tsukune grabbed her arm and brought her up. "Stop it! You don't have to kill them!"

Her fist crashed into his stomach doubling him over. Without pause, she delivered a kick to his chest that sent him flying into a pile of crates, destroying them and leaving him barely conscious.

"I like you Tsukune," she said sweetly. "I really do. If you don't want to help you don't have to. But don't get in my way. I won't be so gentle a second time. Know your place."

He thought some of his ribs might be broken. That kick was harder than anything Moka had ever done to him. _She calls that gentle?_ He was in no shape to interfere with her. He could only watch as she brutally and deliberately murdered the others.

* * *

Ria sighed with remembered contentment. Tsukune really was so much fun with his talk of mercy and protecting the guilty. That boy really was a treat to behold. Still, there was also that moment when things had not been so entertaining and, in fact, down right humiliating.

Her expression turned angry and she rocked her foot in agitation. Things had suddenly and unexpectedly gone wrong. She'd thought she'd understood him. The earlier experiences had revealed a weak and hopelessly naïve boy to her. She was sure his so called 'love' for her imouto would vanish like smoke in the wind if she just offered him a taste of her body. She knew what men wanted and had been certain she would take him away from Moka with ease. To think, she was trying to be gentle with him, to teach him the ways and pleasures of being a vampire, to show him that he could have whatever he wanted. And he had not only rejected her, he had committed the one absolutely unforgivable offense of comparing her to Moka, and finding her wanting.

* * *

He looked at her coldly. For all her beauty and odd charm she was a monster. "How can you stand to think that way?"

"I told you didn't I? I have an abundance of cruelty. And my father outshines me there the way the sun outshines a candle." She pouted and made a girlish face at him. "Don't be upset with me Tsukune, we vampires are all such _wicked_ creatures. Once you accept that the world can be sooo much more fun." She put a hand on his thigh and gave a playful squeeze.

Despite being in a car he jumped up and scrambled away from her. "Hey! What was that?!"

Smiling at him she licked her lips and began to pull off her gloves. "Oh me, oh my, are you going to pretend you didn't like that? Or like my attention?"

"I don't want that sort of attention! I happen to care about your sister!"

"Yes, you are her lover, I know. But you still want to see me naked don't you?" Reaching around her back he heard the sound of a zipper being pulled down. "You are _such _a naughty boy Tsukune. I just thought I would give you what you want so badly as a way of saying thank you for coming with me and sorry about hitting you."

As he watched the top of her dress slipped down revealing a black bra that was straining to hold back her magnificent full breasts. She slid the dress down her body as he watched. He knew it was wrong but couldn't seem to make himself look away. As the dress was slowly pulled down he saw she had a garter belt on over black silk panties. Black nylons covered her silky thighs and legs.

With her dress on the car floor she slowly crossed her legs and ran one hand gradually over them. "Do you like what you see you naughty boy?" She tilted her head and looked at him with such a teasing grin.

He was sitting on the car floor looking up at her. "I, uh, I ah, don't think this is right."

"No, it's definitely not right, but since I'm a wicked woman I don't care. And you didn't answer my question." One hand began to play with one of her breasts through the soft bra. As he watched her saw her nipples harden.

He knew this was so _completely_ wrong, it was wrong on so many levels. Yet he couldn't deny he was excited by what she was doing. There was a terribly strong attraction to those things that are forbidden. And no matter what an awful person she might be Ria was beautiful and putting on a show just for him. She was just a few feet away from him and the possibility of what _might_ happen was causing his heart to race and his body to grow hot.

"I… I can't deny I'm turned on right now," he admitted in a shaky voice. "But… I really want you to stop."

Her foot reached out and she playfully rubbed the inside of his thigh. "What if I don't want to stop?" Reaching back he heard a couple little snaps. She slid off her bra and let it fall to the floor.

He stared at her full luscious firm breasts, they were at least a size bigger that Moka's. In spite himself he felt the urge to reach out and squeeze them.

_What the hell is wrong with me?! I can't do this! _"What about the driver?" He suddenly said desperate to make her stop.

"What about him?" She asked as her foot continued to rub along his thigh slowly moving up and down and up and down.

"He'll tell everyone about this!"

"Ooolock will you tell anyone what we do?"

"No mistress," the goblin answered instantly.

"And why is that?"

"Because Ooolock knows mistress will kill him if he does."

"There you have it, goblins aren't completely stupid it seems. He won't say anything and _I _certainly won't. So it'll be our little secret." She leaned forward bringing herself closer to him, giving him an even better view. "Do you want to touch them?"

"No," he croaked. He couldn't make himself look away though no matter how much he knew he should.

"I don't believe you," she said. She dropped out of the seat and down to her knees right in front of him.

"What are you…"

She grabbed his hands and pressed them to her breasts. Her own hands forcing his to squeeze and mash her beautiful soft tits. "How do they feel?" She asked him in a low thick voice. "Do you like touching them? Do you like touching me?"

"Ria… I…"

"If I remember correctly, someone said they wanted to suck them? What part of them was that again?" She gave him a teasing grin.

She purposely moved his fingers around her hardening nipples, letting him feel the soft, tender skin between his fingers. The pleasurable movements were causing her skin to flush, her body to move in sinuous ways, and small excited sounds to escape her lips. Suddenly she let go of his hands and grabbed the front of his shirt. With her strength she forced him up too fast to react. Before he knew it her mouth was on his, kissing him savagely.

"Fuck me," she said when she pulled her mouth back. All pretense, all subtlety was gone. He could smell her pheromones filling the air. She wanted him; her body wanted him and was ready for sex.

"What?" he said stunned.

"I said fuck me!" She shoved him down as hard as she had pulled him up and was on top of him. Her mouth sucking his, her breasts rubbing against his chest, and her hips grinding into his crotch exciting and hardening him.

Lying there on the limousine floor with a stunningly beautiful woman forcing herself on him, Tsukune's heart was pounding. Even through his clothes her body felt _amazing _and the way she kissed was turning him on more and more with every second.

But then an image popped into his head. It was of Moka. Not the silver haired proud Moka. But of the gentle pink haired girl he had first come to know and care for. He saw her looking at him with those trusting eyes. He thought about what this would do to her, how this would betray the trust that they had and hurt her.

He couldn't do this.

He grabbed her and pushed her off with all his strength. "STOP IT!" Part of his suit ripped in the process as Ria was thrown back on her ass.

She looked at him startled, she had on nothing but her panties, and nylons and he could still smell her lust choking the air. "Ooooh, trying to play hard to get?" She reached for him again but this time he caught both her wrists and brought her up short. Even this did not upset her. "Do you like it rough Tsukune?"

"Just stop it!" He said angrily. "I love Moka-san! I'm sorry but there's no way I could feel the same way about you!"

She grinned slyly. "Who said anything about love? Just give me a good hard fuck and I'll be happy. I'm not going to try and steal you away from her. You can have us both."

"I'm not that sort of guy!"

She laughed at him playfully. "Every guy is that sort of guy. Don't pretend to be anything different. You enjoyed it when I did my little strip tease. I saw the way you looked at me, and I could smell it on you. The body never lies." Her eyes dropped a bit. "Especially not _that_ part."

His face turned a deep, deep red. She had excited him and it showed and there was nothing he could do about it. "I don't deny you're sexy as hell, or that you have turned me on. You're like every teenage boy's fantasy come to life!"

"Lucky you then," she tried to kiss him but he kept his hold on her and forced her to keep a safe distance. "Stop teasing me you naughty boy!"

"No," he told her firmly. "I love Moka-san, she means too much for me to do this. No matter how beautiful you are Ria-san you don't compare to her."

With those words her eyes opened wide and she pulled back from him as if he had slapped her. She stared at him disbelieving. "How dare you," she whispered. "How dare you!!"

"I'm sorry I…"

"SHUT UP!!" She screamed. She glared at him murderously, pulling her lips back and baring her fangs. The scent of lust was quickly replaced by the smell of a deep anger.

"How dare you say that to me! How dare you look me in the eye and tell me I am in any way inferior to that arrogant bitch!"

"She's your sister."

"Shut up! I know what the hell she is!" Ria grabbed her bra from off the floor and quickly put it back on followed swiftly by her dress and the rest of her clothes. "You have no idea what you've missed out on you idiot! Do you know how many lovers I've had? Every one of them has cried when I got bored with them! Every one of them has come back to me _begging_ me for more! I could have given you the most amazing mind blowing time of your life! And instead you reject me? And for _her_? Why? Am I not beautiful enough for you? Am I not sexy enough? Am I not willing enough? What the hell is wrong with me?"

"You're not Moka!" He blurted out.

The second he said it he _knew _it was the worst possible thing he could have uttered. She defiantly stared at him as she pulled on her gloves. All her emotion seemed to pool into her eyes, he could almost feel them stabbing into him. "You are going to regret this." She promised him in a low voice.

Then as he watched she climbed up off the floor and took a seat again on the far left.

"Get up and sit down, it'll still be awhile." She told him in a cold voice.

Carefully he got up and sat all the way over on the right, as far from her as possible. He continued to look over unsure of himself. "Uh, you're not going to attack me are you?"

She looked at him coldly. "That's not my way," she sneered. "As you point out I am _not _Moka."

He gave a sigh of relief. "I'm… I'm glad."

"Don't look so relieved," she told him. "You should be wary of the vengeance of a patient woman."

* * *

A dark chuckle made the driver nervous in her limo. She _had _made him pay, and he would be the first to admit her revenge had hurt far worse than any beating she could have given him.

"Mistress...is everything well?" He driver asked cautiously. Nothing ever went well when Sakitan Ria bled off that kind of mood with her energy seeping into the air.

"You will know if something displeases me. Drive and don't speak to me until we are about to arrive." She smoothed her hands up her arms, thinking of all the things she did to get back Tsukune for that blatant slight against her.

Tsukune had wounded her pride and she had made him and Moka both pay dearly. It was the day she introduced herself to his mother and found out that Tsukune, like the vermin he had tried to save, was once human.

That was the start of a very, very delightful couple of months.


	18. Ch18 Ria and Tsukune

**AN: Here's a nice LOOOOONG chapter that will end Ria going down memory lane. Ja ne!**

**Your Mistress.**

* * *

Sekitan Ria arrived at the corporate headquarters eager to get things done. The six board members were informed to gather and they were waiting for her in a conference room upon her announcement. All six of them were human, but knew about the 'special' nature of Fairy Tale. They were after all a multinational corporation about 90% of whose profits came from legitimate business and investment. They needed executives with real business experience, and most of these were human.

The upper level of management all knew about the company's secrets. Once they were told they lost their freedom to simply leave. Fairy Tale was a bit like a yakuza clan, once you joined it was for life, and loyalty was expected to be absolute. In exchange they were all very well compensated and allowed to indulge themselves in any way they liked without fear of being punished. Drugs, women, boys, they could have anything they wanted, do anything they wanted. They were literally above the law and could get away with murder.

And all that was asked of them in return was loyalty.

Normally the task in front of her would have been a pleasant diversion. It was always fun reminding the hired help that they were disposable and putting them back in their proper place. Today though she had other things in mind and wanted to take care of this little mess as quickly and cleanly as possible.

Along with the Board members she had also called in her 'special' guards. When she arrived on the fiftieth floor she was met at the elevator by their captain.

"As per your instructions, Ria-sama, we have cleared the floor and have guards posted outside the conference door and on all elevators and stairwells."

She nodded her head. "No one is allowed to leave until I am done. No one is permitted to return to the floor again until the cleaners are finished."

"Yes Ria-sama."

When she threw open the doors to the conference room the six board members rose to their feet and bowed in proper Japanese fashion. She smiled at them and motioned for them to take their seats around the conference table again. Behind her the guards shut the doors.

"Oh me, oh my this room simply _reeks _of fear. I would almost think you aren't happy to see me."

"Forgive me for saying this Ria-sama," one of the men spoke in a calm and dignified tone. "But unexpected meetings are never pleasant."

She laughed musically, coming to his side, and eventually placing a gloved hand on his shoulder. The man looked at her without flinching. She liked Tanaka, he was the bravest of them and understood his place.

"Someone here has stolen from my father," she said sweetly, taking in each one of their expressions with a serene calm.

That news caused the others to look around the table at one another. As they'd feared this was going to be one of _those _meetings.

Ria leaned down to put her face by his. "Was it you Tanaka? Did you steal from my father?"

"No Ria-sama," he answered without breaking eye contact. "I would _never_ be so foolish."

"That's true, it wasn't you." She patted his shoulder with confirming affection.

She drifted over to the next board member. She placed an affectionate gloved hand on his cheek. "Hitsugaya, I apologize for inconveniencing you today."

He offered her a pale smile. "I was not inconvenienced in any way Ria–sama."

"Really? But you have a hotel suite booked and you were going to take your thirteen year old niece shopping today. Then take her back to the suite to fuck her."

Watching people squirm always made her smile. In truth she didn't care in the least what he did with his niece, it was just good to remind them that she knew all of their secrets.

"Don't worry, this won't take long. You'll have all afternoon to take advantage of that sweet young pussy." She leaned close and saw his left eye twitch. "Was it you? Did you steal?"

"No," he croaked, clearly more ashamed of having his dark secret announced so loudly then being accused of theft.

"That's true, it wasn't you." She strutted away, arms crossed towards her other victim.

Over to the third member, she leaned against his back and pressed her breasts against his wide shoulders. Her hands cupped the wide breadth of them, giving him a gentle massage. "Miogami, how much does my father pay you? Never mind your bonuses, your stock options, or the houses and cars you get to use for free. Tell me, how much your base salary is."

"One billion yen," he replied evenly.

"A lofty bit of money," she said. "It should be enough for anyone. So tell me," she leaned in close. "Was it you? Did you steal?"

"No," he replied quickly.

She smiled at him, taking her time to brush his hair behind his ear. Leaning close, she bit his lobe and whispered loud enough for everyone to hear, "Liar."

He jumped to his feet and scrambled to get away from her. She made no effort to get in his way as he backed towards the door, she stood here and watched in rapt amusement.

"Ria-sama I swear to you…"

"Don't bother lying," she told him, sounding interested as to how he was going to try and defend themselves. Those who were guilty rarely showed enough backbone to just admit it. "The family accountants have already tracked the funds down to the special bank account you had set up. Tell me, did you actually need the money or was it just greed? And for what? A few measly dozen million American dollars?"

He reached for the doors and tried to open them, but after rattling them as hard as he could it was all to apparent they were locked. Even if he could have broken them down the guards were waiting just beyond, just in case.

"Did you think you could steal from my father and get away with it?" She shook her head sadly, shaking her finger at him lecturingly. "Normally I would deal with you myself but today I think I'll delegate the task." She looked at the other members who were all still seated. "Kill him. Beat him to death with your fists or stomp on him. I want you all to feel him slowly disappear."

She took a seat in the nearest chair, making sure to smooth her dress at her hips before she sat and crossed her legs. Her lovely brown eyes waited patiently for them to commence.

There was an instant of hesitation. None of these men had any moral issue with murder, they wouldn't be here if they had. The members were however used to committing their crimes from a distance. They were not the sort to dirty their own hands.

"Oh, and make it fun. Show me your loyalty to Lord Akashiya."

Tanaka was the first to get to his feet and shrug off his coat. "Miogami, please do not resist and we will try to make it as fast and clean as possible."

The other members followed his example and shrugged off their coats as they stood.

"You… you can't mean that!" Miogami said in panic. "We're all friends here! Hitsugaya! I was over at you house just the other day!"

"So what?" Hitsugaya retorted calmly. "You expect us to hold back because of that? You want us to die too?"

"You area a dead man," Tanaka told him without sympathy. "You were dead the moment you decided to steal from Lord Akashiya. Please at least try and face your death with dignity."

Miogami tried to get away from them and then tried to fight them off. He was soon knocked down and was being kicked and beaten by five middle aged executives who had been his friends just moments before.

Ria watched with amusement, finding it funny.

It took seventeen minutes, but eventually, the men had broken the bones in his chest enough for them to puncture them, eventually killing him.

When they were done the cleaners came in to remove the blood stains and take care of the body. They also had clean clothes for all the remaining board members.

* * *

Leaving the office building her thoughts one more turned back to Tsukune. He'd spurned her advances and earned her wrath by comparing her to Moka and finding her wanting. She'd decided to crush him by the simple means of having her father reject him as a potential mate for Moka. It had been easy enough, her father had always been overprotective of her little sister and it had not taken much to convince him. She had even come up with an impossible 'test' for him. A task that would have been dangerous for her father, an elder vampire and Lord of Hades, and should have been utterly unattainable for a newly turned vampire. He would have to be proven too weak to be a proper mate for Moka and be separated from her. However…

* * *

Lord Akashiya, Ria, Moka, and even Kokoa were all staring t him with open mouths and identical looks of disbelief. Standing in front of them was Tsukune with an enchanted broadsword resting on his shoulder.

He looked at Lord Akashiya. "So I guess this means I have your blessing right?"

Lord Akashiya took the blade from him and studied it carefully. It was his, no question; he had forged it himself using his most powerful magics. A true one of a kind weapon. He stared at Tsukune with disbelief still written on his face.

And nodded. "Welcome to the family son."

* * *

In the limo she shook her head. To this day she still had no idea how he had managed that, Somehow or other he had managed to pass her test and actually impress her father. That was the first time she began to realize that Tsukune might just be something very special.

Of course she had not given up just because of that initial failure. She had sent her spies after him when he and Moka left the castle. That was when she _finally _got some revenge against him. Oh, but it had been sweet!

* * *

Tsukune and Moka were in the living room watching television as his mom entered the room. "Tsukune, there's someone here to see you."

Tsukune looked up unalarmed, figuring it was likely an old friend from the neighborhood. "Oh? Who is it kaasan?" When he saw Ria step up beside his mother he felt his blood grow cold. "Ria what are you doing here?!" He jumped to his feet.

The pink haired Moka got up as well, every bit as alarmed. "Sister?"

Mrs. Aono looked at her guest in surprise. "Ah! Are you Moka's sister?"

Ria nodded politely. "Oh me, oh my I certainly am. I am her big sister."

Mrs. Aono gave her a welcoming bow. "I am very pleased to meet you, welcome to our humble home."

Ria smiled sweetly. "Well it certainly is humble."

"Eh?" Mrs. Aono looked at her questioningly.

"Mom, could you make us some tea and maybe some cookies?" Tsukune asked. He carefully stepped between his mother and Ria. "I think Moka and I would like to talk to Ria alone for a bit."

"I would like that brother dear."

"Brother?" Mrs. Aono said in surprise.

Ria turned to the woman. "What? Hasn't Tsukune told you about how my father has welcomed him into the family? Even though there's been no wedding he already sees Tsukune as a son, and of course I think of him as my very own outoto."

"Well how lovely! Tsukune why didn't you tell me you'd grown so close to Moka's family?"

"It must have slipped my mind," Tsukune murmured.

Ria wagged a finger at him. "You're so naughty Tsukune, forgetting about me like that." A cruel sparkle filled her dark eyes."I haven't forgotten about you, brother dear. Oh no, not for a moment."

He grabbed her by the wrist and began leading her to his room. "Mom, please excuse us."

Moka followed them while his mother went to the kitchen to make the tea and cookies.

* * *

"So this is your bedroom!" Ria said. "It's rather bland, but not too bad considering it belonged to a human." She immediately laid out on the bed. "Mmmm, a little small, but I guess it's big enough to do the job," she smiled over at him. "Care to join me, brother dear?"

"Don't be disgusting!" Moka hissed furiously. Apparently her moral code did not extend to her sister openly flirting with him.

"What are you doing here, Ria-san?" Tsukune asked.

"Awww, do I need a reason to come and visit my darling outoto and imouto?" She pouted a bit.

"You haven't come here just to visit," Moka said sternly.

Still lying on his bed she propped herself up with her elbows. "You know, brother dear, when we first met I wondered why you cared so much for the humans. Now of course it's obvious, being a former rat yourself it's natural that you would sympathize with your fellow vermin."

Tsukune and Moka shared a nervous look.

Ria pretended not to notice and continued. "I don't care of course, in my eyes you are a vampire now. What you were before doesn't matter. Father on the other hand is a bit old fashioned about these sorts of things. If he were to find out the truth he would be insulted. He might take out his anger on you… and on your whole family."

"Are you threatening me?" Tsukune said angrily.

Moka placed a restraining hand on his arm. "What do you want Ria? If you just wanted to tell father you would have. Obviously you're after something else."

Ria grinned merrily. "Oh me, oh my that's true. I do want something in return for keeping Tsukune's little secret." She looked directly at him and slowly licked her lips. "I want to share."

Moka gasped and paled.

Tsukune looked questioningly at her and then back at Ria. "I don't understand, share? Share what?"

"You," Ria said sweetly.

* * *

Though it had pained her Moka had agreed that there was no choice but for Tsukune to accompany her older sister back to her hotel suite and give her what she wanted. The alternative would be her father learning the truth. They had been in her apartment and Ria had Tsukune right where she wanted him, at her mercy.

"Ria-san you don't want to do this," he told her.

"I don't?" Ria looked up at him curiously and tilted her head to the side a bit.

"No, you don't," he said. "I know you and Moka have some deep seated issues between the two of you and there are hard feelings. But she is still your sister. I am sure that deep down what you really want is to make peace with her so you two can finally get along like really sisters should. You're her neesan, I know that you don't really want to do this to her."

Ria stopped and stared up at him. "Do you really believe that Tsukune?"

He nodded solemnly. "I do."

She put her head back and roared with laughter. "Hah! Hah! Oh but you're so cute when you're being all trusting and wide eyed! Like a little forest animal! Oh me, oh my I think I could eat you right up! In fact…" with both hand she shoved him roughly onto the bed. "I think I will!"

She grabbed her rosario and threw it across the room. Surrounded by demonic power she climbed on top of him and held down his hands roughly by the wrist. Still in his human form Tsukune was powerless to do anything at all. Looking up into her cruel and inhuman red eyes Tsukune felt real fear. It was the same fear any human might feel facing a hungry vampire.

"You… you don't want to do this Ria-san."

A heartless grin exposed her fangs. "Oh I think I do," she purred and leaned down to place her mouth by his throat. "This and a lot more, I am making you mine tonight brother dear."

"My heart belongs only to Moka."

Her laughter tickled his neck. "Oh me, oh my it's not your heart I want." She bit down savagely and let the sweet blood fill her mouth.

Tsukune cried out in pain.

That only gave her even more pleasure. Even if it was only his body, she would make him her own.

* * *

She lit the candle and watched the tiny flame burn. She saw the wax beneath the wick slowly melt. She let a small pool of it build and carefully tipped the candle over letting the drops of hot wax fall. They fell on his smooth chest with a tiny, 'hiss.'

"Aaaah," he cried and shook a bit. The chains that held his wrists to the bed post clinked. She had begun with him in his human form. She had taken a certain twisted pleasure in fucking a lowly human. But after the first time she had removed his Rosario, a vampire had incredible endurance and she meant to use him until she was exhausted. The chains were a prop. With a vampire's strength he could have easily torn them off. She had told him not to, she like the feeling of having him be powerless.

"Does it hurt?" She asked as she kept the candle sideways. As another drop of hot wax fell on him he gasped slightly.

"I've felt much worse," Tsukune said. Trying to stay calm. He was lying naked on the bed, his wrists chained to the bed posts. She was kneeling over top of him, naked except for a garter and her silky black nylons. Her soft big breasts were sliding against his chest.

"I'm sure you have," Ria said teasingly. Leaning down she licked his neck.

"Please don't…"

Like that was a signal he felt her teeth tear into his throat and she began to greedily suck out his blood.

"Aaaaaah! Stop! Please!"

She pulled back, her lips bloody and a little red stream dribbling down her chin. He watched as her tongue came out and licked up the blood around her mouth.

"Doesn't… doesn't it taster bitter?"

"Oh me, oh my I like the bitter. It's like tasting your tears brother dear." She set the candle down and casually put her hand on his weary cock. "Are you ready to go again?"

"No, please no, I don't want to do this again."

She was looking right down into his eyes as he felt her hand slowly begin to rub him. "Do you not like it?" She purred, her red eyes staring down into his knowingly.

"No I… ah, hah I hate it."

"Liar. You're a liar Tsukune, just like all men."

"No, it's… it's true I swear. I… I love Moka; she'd the only one I want to do this with." He was starting to feel good again.

"A man's mouth lies, his eyes lie, his heart lies, this," she gave a squeeze. "Is the only part that is always honest. If you don't want this all you have to do is not get hard."

"That… that's not fair," he gasped. He was trying not to. He was thinking of Moka crying, or watching grass grow, of studying history. It didn't help. He could feel himself getting hard underneath her expert touch.

"The body wants what the body wants, what could be more fair than that?" She kissed him and slipped her tongue into his mouth. He would never admit it, but Ria was much better at this than Moka. Her tongue playfully brushed his as her lips slowly sucked against his. As her tongue swirled around she stroked him just a little harder, just a little faster.

"Why pretend? You… like… it." Each word was punctuated by a kiss. "Just admit it; just admit you like having me fuck you."

"No," he said. His dick was so hard now it was starting to hurt.

"Liar, your mouth says one thing but your cock says another."

She ran her tongue leisurely down the length of his body, licking his neck and the burn marks on his chest. Parting her mouth to leave wet, descending kisses over his belly, she part the hair by his groin when she dragged her pursed lips over his length. He felt her hot breath against the skin of his pulsing cock and he couldn't keep his hips from rising.

"Do you want me to stop?" She asked in a teasing voice.

"Ye… yes," he barely whispered.

He could feel her body shake against his legs as she gave a throaty laugh. "Oh me, oh my that doesn't sound very convincing." He felt his member suddenly pressed into a mass of incredible soft flesh. "Who are you lying for? Me or yourself?" She squeezed her large tits together and rubbed them up and down slowly, giving him a nice relaxed valley of softness to take him.

"I… I…" Who was he lying for? He didn't really know. _It feels so good! _For just a second he wondered if Kurumu's tits would feel just as good doing this. He felt a flash of guilt for thinking that… but the thought wouldn't go away.

"Mmmm, what's the matter brother dear? Not so sure?" She began rubbing her tit just a little bit faster.

"Uhhh, huh," he gasped.

Ria grinned and licked the top of his head with the tip of her tongue. "Did you like it slower or faster?"

"Fa… faster," he said.

"Then say, 'please titty fuck me faster Ria-sama.'"

He thought about Moka and how this would hurt her. But he had no choice, if he refused her not only would he be in danger but his family too. He had to do this. And if he had to was it wrong to actually enjoy it? In this bed, fucking Ria he wasn't sure anymore.

"Ple… please titty fuck me faster Ria-sama."

He heard her laughter and felt it as her tits shook. "All right, since you ask so nicely Tsukune-kun."

She began to focus on him faster. She received the tip of his dick in her mouth and sucked it as she kept working her tits up and down and up and down. She liked the taste of him: The saltiness, the hardness of the shaft, and the softness at the top of it. She liked the way she could feel it starting to throb and the little gasps from him as she did this. She liked knowing she had this power over him. She could make him cum like a geyser, or she could keep him on the edge for as long as she wanted. The feeling of control turned her on.

She decided she wanted more of that thick cock. She put her tits out of the way and brought her mouth down, sucking him hard and pulling in her cheeks. His dick was too long and too thick for her to take all the way in her mouth into her throat, even if she got it most of the way though. Her nimble hands rubbed the base of his cock as she expertly moved her mouth up and down.

As she sucked him his hips moved, bucking to ram it deeper between her suckling lips. His groans got louder and more desperate. He could say he didn't want this, but that was a lie, it was always a lie. Every man wanted this, to be sucked, to be stroked, to have his cock played with and rubbed until it exploded. Every man wanted to fuck hard.

She kept her lips tight around that cock and sucked his hard wet shaft. It felt so good! She could sense how hot it was, how heavy with need. She could feel the pressure in him building up. It was making her positively drenched. She took one hand and began to rub her dripping slit. As her head bobbed up and down over that cock, her fingers manipulated her sensitive knub faster and deeper into herself. She could feel her pleasure begin to build.

"Fuck me!" She scrambled around to sit on his cock. He was hard as a rock and she was soaking wet. Tsukune's member slid right into her as soon as she lowered herself. "Yeah, fuck me! Fuck me like you mean it!"

"Ahh! Ahhhh!" Tsukune gasped as her pussy clamped down tight; so wet, so hot!

She gripped him with her thighs and began riding him with a loud series of wet, 'smacks.' His big hard cock went up all the way into her, spurning her on and filling her with a mounting pleasure.

"Uh, fuck! Yes! Aaah! Uhhhhh!" She began making noises like an animal. The playful attitude she liked to display vanished as she really got into it. His length pressed up into all the right spots. She ground down harder, faster, desperate for more. It was like he was made just for her.

"Fuck me! Oh, Tsukune, fuck me!"

"Ahhh, ah I'm going to…"

"Me too! Me too! I'm cumming, you're making me cum!" Ria cried as her crevice throbbed painfully against him, constricting violently.

"Aaaahh! Ahhh, Ria!" He cried out, unable to control his own climax.

Hearing him shout her name made her cum even harder. His cock began shooting thick streams of his seed in her, causing her womb to seizure around him. She could feel it fill her insides and then felt as it leaked out of her.

She straddled him until the last pulse of her orgasm passed and she could feel him slowly getting softer. She spread on top of him, rubbing her nylon covered legs of him and pressing her tits into his burned chest. She covered his mouth in eager kisses and ran her tongue along his sweaty body.

"You going to tell me you didn't enjoy that little brother?"

He looked up at her with his own red eyes and a flush set on his cheeks.

"I… I enjoyed it," he admitted in a shameful whisper.

She laughed and playfully nipped at his throat. "I'm starting to really like you little brother; you keep fucking me like this I just might decide to take you away from Moka for good. Let's rest for a little bit and then go again. We have all night to play."

Vampires did have an amazing amount of endurance.

* * *

Just remembering that first session got her panties wet. Knowing how using Tsukune like that also hurt her sister only made the sex that much more intense and pleasurable. She'd had dozens of lovers, yet she'd never enjoyed herself as much as with him. His refusal to admit just how much he was enjoying the things she was doing to him added to her determination to break him completely.

She was going to make him her willing lover. She would eventually steal him away from Moka when he at last admitted her little sister could not possibly give him what he truly wanted. She'd been completely in control of him and the situation.

Or so she'd thought.

Once more he'd surprised her.

* * *

They'd been lying in bed together, enjoying a short respite to one of their sessions. His wrists were bound to the headboard and his naked body was covered in sweat, cum, and her juices. There was dried blood on his neck and chin. Ria was lying next to him naked except for her black nylons.

With his endurance they would be going at it again soon, for the moment though she was content just to lie next to him. She noticed he was looking at her face and grinned.

"Be patient darling, we still have plenty of time before the dawn."

"May… may I ask you a question Ria–sama?"

He'd learned to be respectful and obedient. "Ask," she said pleasantly. Sometimes she was cruel and unforgiving, sometimes gentle and kind. Nothing pleased her more then to watch as she was slowly breaking him and turning him into the shape that pleased her best.

"Do you never kiss Ria-sama?"

She lifted a single questioning eyebrow. "What do you mean? I do all sorts of things with my mouth."

He shook his head slightly. "I don't mean when you force your tongue into my mouth Ria-sama. I mean a gentle regular kiss."

"You mean the sort you give my sister?" She asked curiously.

He nodded his head warily. Tsukune knew by now that any mention of Moka was dangerous. "Do you not like to be kissed that way?"

"Not especially," she gave him a patronizing look. "Do you enjoy it Tsukune? Those boring little kisses?"

"I don't think they're boring," he answered carefully. "They're how I show I care for someone."

He fidgeted under her scrutinizing gaze. "May I… may I kiss you that way? Just once?"

"Like you kiss Moka?"

He nodded cautiously.

"All right," she replied while licking her lips, as if tasting his reactions for some kind of trick. "If that's something you'd like."

"Could you untie me Ria-sama?"

She nodded and freed his wrists. This was the first time he'd taken any initiative in their sessions and she wanted to encourage that.

They sat up together in bed, staring at the other as they explored this new and very basic territory of intimacy. Eventually, he reached for her, taking her into his arms by the small of her back. He looked into her guarded earth toned eyes, offering an odd nervousness that was different from the fear he usually displayed when she began to get a little rough. He slowly leaned in and placed a light and tender kiss on her lips. It was so gentle, so grazing she could barely feel it. It was affectionate, sweet and filled with a vulnerable longing.

She was surprised when she responded to it. Without thinking she kissed him back. Kissing him like this felt… good.

When he broke apart, Tsukune kept her close to him in his arms.

"Did you like it, Ria-sama?"

There was a strange warmth spreading through her and she felt an odd excitement.

"It wasn't horrible," she admitted, but bit her lip coyly. "I wouldn't be completely against another."

He gave a slight nod. Tsukune brought her close and kissed once more. It was odd for her, letting him touch her so intimately, so carefully as if she was something delicate and fragile, something that didn't involve pure dominance or mocking him as a man or a person. She felt it weird that he made her want to enjoy it longer, this mild and slow building of warmth and protection.

Instead of making frantic, demeaning force sex, they spent the whole night embracing each other and kissing.

* * *

Returning home she ran a thumb over her lips. What an odd thing it was to be effected so by something as simple as kissing. Yet when he's tasted her like that she'd felt something she hadn't for a very long time. Could it be she felt real genuine love?

Impossible.

When she'd still been a little girl, before her mother had been banished from father's presence, she'd felt that from her father. For a little while she had been his pride and joy and he had openly adored her.

Daddy had loved her.

How wonderful it had been! What a perfect joy to have the person you adore treasure you. She'd assumed back then that it was only natural and that he would always lover her like that. But as she'd gotten older he'd started to treat her with more formality and with a growing distance. He expected her to take her place as his primary subordinate and to obey his orders. She'd adjusted to the change and worked hard to please him. She'd also decided to be the ideal vampire; proud, unforgiving, and cruel. She sought out her own pleasure and took the things she wanted from others. Unfortunately, the one thing she wanted most, for her father to love her again, was always denied her.

Did Tsukune's kiss effect her so because it was a reminder of that golden time when daddy really did lover her? Or was it because it was Tsukune, and he just couldn't help putting his whole heart into whatever he did? Was that the reason Moka and the others loved him so? Was that how he was able to reach her in a way none of her lovers ever had?

She wasn't sure why or how it happened, but she started to develop an affection for him. She began to really _want _to be with him. Not just to avenge her wounded pride or to hurt that simpering Moka, but because she actually thought she was starting to care for him. The eldest daughter began to see in him all those qualities that had won over all the others. At his heart, he was just a very kind and loving person who really did care more about others than about himself.

Oddly she had never sought that out before in her lovers. She'd always looked for handsome powerful men who could satisfy her carnally. When they spoke of love to her she ignored them, they were just mouthing the words they thought she wanted to hear. Her relationships revolved around sex and pleasure, love never had anything to do with it.

Their sessions began to change. There was still plenty of sex, but she began to not tie him up or try to dominate him. It was slowly becoming more tender and she was more willing to act as if they were equals. They kissed more and she could tell that he was beginning to enjoy their time together more and more. He was opening his heart to her and she, to her own surprise was beginning to do the same.

For the first time she began to consider the possibility she could find love form someone other than her father. She'll never forget when it really began to set in. It was still early morning...

* * *

They had spent a whole evening making the first of gentle love instead of full out damaging sex. Ria had thought it was nice and there was something to be said about being held as a woman who let herself be pleasured by a man who felt encouraged to be so. They had exhausted themselves more on an emotional level then a physical and she knew it was time for him to go soon. With her body sore, she decided not to fight the moment of lethargy that kept her in bed when she felt him quietly shift as he got up. The shower ran and it was not unfamiliar for him to just go without telling her anything. He knew she would seek him out later and this cycle would continue anew. She drifted back asleep, certain that he would be gone when she woke up.

Sekitan Ria was wrong.

The dark vampiress was surprised to be awoke by the smell of food being cooked and the sound of plates being set on a small kitchenette. She hadn't even known there was a stove and table in her room. It was never a part of her apartment that she cared to explore, but now it woke her up with a startled realization.

Tsukune was making her breakfast.

Ria rubbed the heel of her hand across both eyes as she wrapped a robe around her to find the answer to this curious behavior. It took her by complete surprised to see Tsukune finishing up, pouring a glass of orange juice in a cup and putting the carafe next to a plate.

"Oh, Ria-sama, you're up." Dusting his hands with a towel, he pulled a chair out for her.

"What's this?" She was amazed at the care he took to prepare her a simple, but well cooked morning meal.

"I hope you don't mind, but I didn't know what you liked. I made a few things I thought you would enjoy." He gestured at a few plates with french toast, omelet, sausage patties, with a few pieces of strawberries put in a bowl for her.

A small bag was empty to the side where he must have went to get groceries; there was no food in her fridge to speak of.

The gesture left her dumbfounded by its simplicity. There were many men who had taken her to breakfast, spending untold riches to show her their adoration of her, but none had ever done something as simple as made her breakfast.

Unable to understand why he would do this for her, he had surprised her again with another simple gesture.

"I have to get going, Ria-sama, but I'll see you later on this evening? You look beautiful with bedhead, by the way."

Placing a simple trio of daisies in her hand, he kissed her lips gently before he was already out the door.

She had seen many men try this sort of endearing ploy with her, but there was always that underlying sense of want, of lust, of false affection. His was as real and sincere as she ever witnessed.

Sitting in stunned silence, it was at least a minute before she touched her nose with the bright white flowers and said to the silence that enveloped her. "Thank you, Tsukune-kun."

Touching her lips with her fingers, she couldn't remember the last time she felt like her room was too quiet and the simple warmth of a man's lips on her seemed to dissipate all to quickly.

* * *

Ria's limo was pulling up to a new meeting place that Tsukune had requested, and was surprised to see Tsukune and Moka in the middle of a heated argument. She lowered the window to hear what was causing her detested younger sister such pain.

"Why are you getting her flowers! She doesn't require it of you!"

"I know, Moka-chan, but I think she would like them, so why shouldn't I? I get them for Mizore, Kurumu, and Ruby, so why would I not get them for your sister?" He picked out a mix of lillies and lavender petaled bouquet that he split into two smaller ones.

"You sound like you're starting to care for her." Moka's green eyes were becoming liquid emeralds, but Tsukune returned her stare with honest confirmation.

"I am, Moka-chan, but is that so bad? If her and I are going to be like this, wouldn't it be better if we are kind to each other then if we are enemies?" He handed her a bouquet, which she took with half hearted affection.

"Tsukune..." She sounded very worried.

"I love you, Moka-chan." He kissed her soundly, unashamed at the public lip lock and pulled her close to him with one arm around her waist. "When I come home we can have dinner with my mother, okay?"

The limo door opened and Tsukune sat next to Ria without waiting for Moka's answer. They drove off, with Ria staring at him as if he grew a second head or smelled particularly repugnant.

Tsukune nodded politely to his dark mistress, "Ria-sama, I'm happy to see you again. These are for you."

He offered her the simple bundle of flowers and she accepted these with growing suspicion.

"What games do you plan to play with me, Tsukune. You know this doesn't change anything between us. I've had men offer me jewelry that are worth more then what you'd make in your pathetic human existence, cars, boats, stocks and business's worth millions of American dollars. You will perform as instructed."

"Oh, I know, but does this mean I'm not allowed to do more then what you expect of me, Ria-sama? I hope I have not overstepped my boundaries." He winced cautiously, but not out of fear, but hope that she was not disappointed in him.

She could sense nothing but a sincere need to make her comfortable and, possibly, cared for. The flowers touched her lips when she decided to allow him this privilege of treating her as he has.

"I heard you had a meeting this morning, Ria-sama. Did it go well?" He asked cordially, and she shrugged, deciding that some polite conversation wouldn't be a bad way to start their morning. In the middle of her mentioning some of the gruesome details that made him cringe, he noticed her rock her foot this way and that in slight ache.

"Do your feet hurt, Ria-sama?" He noticed with a slight wince.

"Have you ever worn four inch stiletto heels for hours on end, Tsukune?" She smirked her gloriously red lips at him.

"Ah, no," He blushed, but grinned helpfully, "but my mom used to work as a waitress for a restaurant that required them to wear heels. Her feet always hurt and I used to rub them when I was younger. May I?"

Ria narrowed her eyes at him. "Is this an excuse to play with my feet? You wouldn't happen to have some weird fetish, do you?"

He waved away her mild accusation with a chuckle. "No, no, Ria-sama. I would just like you to feel more comfortable."

After her slow nod, she watched him kneel down on the limo's floor and slowly remove one shoe and place one of his large hands on her dainty arches and the other behind her heel. Rolling them in a weird, but comfortable twist, she hissed with the foreign pressure.

"Did I hurt you?" He voice with concern.

"No, no...keep going. I just didn't realize how sore my feet were." She was gripping the loose fabric of her dress as he continued to work on her foot, gently kneading the sole, and up a little bit above her heel. Eventually, pressing his knuckles into her high arches, making her shift in her seat and squirm at the delightful loosening of knotted tendons.

After he was done, she seemed to melt into her seat with a sated smile.

"You were wonderful, Tsukune." She voiced dreamily, sleepily.

"May I do your other foot, Ria-sama?" He cupped the back of her calf and shoe tenderly.

She nodded, and watched him work his own manipulative magic on her again. It was a different type of sensuality that she had not experienced in her 200 plus years of living and she had to admit she was a little more jealous of the attention Moka had to have received from this very delightful and surprising young human.

Thinking of some way to take back some control of the situation, she decided a little teasing could be had...Tsukune had earned it after that little bit of attention, after all.

"Tsukune, you wouldn't be doing this just to look up my dress, would you?" Ria's voice was playfully chiding.

His eyes glanced at the nice length of exposed thigh and then into the hidden darkness of the folds of cloth. Catching himself, he glanced back down to her foot guiltily. He may not have been meaning to do as she said, but after hearing her he had unintentionally did peek.

"Oh me, oh my what a naughty boy you are." She burbled throatily at him, her fingers teasing the hem of her dark fabric.

He surprised her with a meaningful note in his masculine voice, "What can I say? You do have beautiful legs, Ria-sama. I think your nylons are just too much for any man to not want to look, let alone feel."

Ria had been hit on many times and she knew her stockings were always a point of interest when men touched her or looked at her legs, but it was always a sense of carnal lust or just seeing her as an object of beauty. Tsukune was treating her as an appreciated person, complimenting her with affection. His hands smoothed up the back of her calves, then over the front of her thighs.

"May I be so bold, Ria-sama, to say that I may have been a little dishonest with you?" His voice took on a husky timbre, a half hooded look of restrained desire.

"How so, Tsukune?" As his hands trained up her thighs, she gripped his forearms, pulling them towards her. Encouraging him to feel her higher and higher...

"I may not have meant to look up your dress...but I have." He admitted shyly.

"So...?" She felt his hands grip the slight filmy waist band of her panties.

"I would really like to taste you right now, Ria-sama." he touched the inside of her knee with his lips.

A hot exhale escaped her lips.

"'Chan', Tsukune." She breathed painfully wanting. "Call me Ria-chan."

"Of course, Ria-chan," the sound of her name with that tone made her body quiver, as did the feel of him dragging the tiny piece of clothing down her legs and over her feet. It wasn't a moment later that Tsukune found the treasure hidden well within the depths of her dress.

The limo driver knew better then to go directly to her apartment, so he decided to take the longest way around Tokyo and find a nice secluded area to park. Vampires going at each other tended to last a very long time.

* * *

When they eventually made it back to their apartment, Tsukune and Ria were at each other again like a different type of lover then what they had started. This was the first time they made passionate, expressive, sensitive equal love. Her mind had been blown away by the simple majesty of it, the heart and soul filling ecstasy of having someone not only fill you physically, but with tender, thoughtful emotion.

She had never, ever been so happy to be with a man in her whole life.

They were lying together peacefully one night when everything came to a surprising admission.

"Ria..." Tsukune began nervously. "I have something I want to tell you."

She looked over at him, a little worried but sure she knew what he was going to say. The dark haired vampire wasn't surprised what he was going to ask. She knew that this moment would come and she had to admit that being with Tsukune this last few months had been inspiring and fulfilling in ways she never would have thought possible. He brought out a different type of woman she didn't know she could be, let alone a unique lover that she had no idea he could posses with such limited experience. It would be a lie for Ria to say he had opened different parts of herself, and it was all due to being with the man who was looking back at her at this moment.

"Let me guess...you want to leave?"

Ria intertwined his fingers with her own. If he made any motion that he did, she already told herself she would give him his freedom. Though she knew she was not done with her fill of him, she had made her point with her sister and enjoyed the company of her mate. Hopefully, if the time would come again during the decades upon decades to come, if they were to seek each other out again, she knew that union would also be just as enjoyable as it had been these couple of months.

"No...uhm...Ria," he reaches over and kisses her lightly, kindly, and mildly possessive. "I love you."

"You... you do?" She asked warily. She'd heard those words before of course. Just about all her lovers had proclaimed how much they loved her at one point or another. Their promises of undying and eternal love had never mattered to her, they were always just words. Hearing them from Tsukune was different. "Really?"

"Yes. I love you Ria."

"More than Mizore?"

"Yes."

"More than Yukari? More than Ruby?"

He nodded. "Yes, Ria-chan."

She started to smile more and more and as hope filled her. "Kurumu?" She asked. "Do you love me more than Kurumu?"

He nodded, smiling. "Yes."

That left just one more name. She waited hopefully, desperately. She knew that if he could say yes just one more time, then she would love him too. She would open up her heart and give herself to him body and soul. She would say the words, 'I love you too' and mean them. She would love him for all eternity, even allow him to be Moka's mate without prejudice, if he could just say yes one more time.

"Moka? Please, tell me you love more than her and I swear my life will be yours, Tsukune!"

She looked into that honest face and saw the shadow of doubt cross it. She saw him give her the slightest shake of his head. "I'm sorry," he said. "Maybe if we had met first it would be different. I can't say that I love you more then her, but just differently, Ria. I want all of us to be happy together, not just you and me but I hope that all of us can become close too."

She stared at his smiling face and felt as though he'd plunged a knife into her. For her, everything was a game, everything was a contest. In her mind's eye she saw his hand casually tipping over her King and laughing as he said, 'checkmate.'

He'd just beaten her...again. No, worse than that he's actually fooled and manipulated her! He'd gotten her to think she _loved _him! She'd been on the verge of confessing and throwing herself at his feet! And all the while it had been Moka in his heart! Moka always Moka!

"Ria?" he asked, his voice simply oozing concern. "Are you..."

SLAP!

Her hand slapped him so hard he fell over and was knocked flat on the bed.

"SHUT UP!" She screamed at him. "I was going to tell you that I loved you, you fool! I was going to offer you my heart and ask you to even become my mate if you wanted! Me! A mate to a second born vampire! And instead what do you tell me?! That you love Moka over me and you want me to be just another member of your pathetic little harem! You filthy pig! How dare you?! You think you could turn **me **into one of your fawning pets? Me?!"

"Ria I…"

"Shut up!" She screamed and hit him again so hard her glove ripped. "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!!!" She punched him again and again as hard as she could. Tsukune covered up as best he could but did not try to defend himself.

Ria was beyond furious. She was normally calm, and plotting by nature and he had just hurt her in a way she hadn't thought anyone but her father ever could. She grabbed some rope from a nearby stand and tied his hands to the bed. They hadn't been playing their usual games of late but all the tools were still in the suite. As soon as she had him tied up found the bullwhip and stood over him.

"You disgusting arrogant pig!" Now she was laughing at him, mocking him. Any sense of affection for him or desire to be gentle or genuinely cared by him was as far gone as could be. "Did you actually believe it? Did you _really _think I was starting to care for you? Did you think yourself so amazing that a few boring kisses would make me fall for you? It was all a lie, you fool! I was trying to steal you away from Moka! You never mattered to me!"

"Ria, don't do this, Please. I swear, I do love you! This isn't going to help you, but hurt you! If you are angry at me and Moka, I'll gladly accept your punishment, but what about you? If you love someone and hurt them, it will make your heart hurt as well. Please, don't do it, Ria. If you go down this road, there won't be any turning back and you will feel it for the rest of your life."

His concern for her seemed hallow to her ears no matter how much ache, how much hope and faith he tried to reach her with. His face was starting to swell and the fresh cuts on his cheek made him look a little oblong, but what made her pause for a moment, for just a breath was the tears. He wasn't crying for himself, but for her.

"How dare you look at me as if you pitied me!" She twisted the leather whip in her hands, making it creak noisily.

Tied and helpless he stared up at her. "Then why are you so angry if everything meant nothing?"

"Because you compared me to her again!! How dare you tell me you love me less than her!" She pulled her arm back as she took off her rosario and was consumed by demonic energy. "KNOW YOUR PLACE!"

She swung the whip with every ounce of her vampire strength. It cut clean through the skin on his back and sent a spray of blood onto the bedroom window. Tsukune screamed in pain. She drew back and lashed him again. Then again and again and again, each time she did it as hard as she possibly could.

He screamed for her to stop, begged her because each time it left a sliver of blood, she flinched as well. There was no denying that when the friction of the leather marred him, she felt it as well. Fear, regret, and even tortured sadness was pitted deep within her crimson slitted eyes, but it didn't matter. When he stopped calling for her to stop, he screamed for Moka. That had been an even bigger mistake.

Ria's arm didn't stop swinging for who knows how long. It was already the end of the day when he had quit making noises all together and just hung there.

She soon lost track of how many times she'd whipped him, but by then she was finally tired of it his entire back was ripped open. The smatterings of blood graffiti'd the walls and floor and the bed itself was ruined and soaked through. If he were merely human he'd have been dead well before. Even as a vampire he was reaching his limit. It would take days for his body to recover from this.

For several breaths, she considered just killing him. He had humiliated her twice now! She had killed people for a lot less than that. But he was under father's protection. Even if she revealed the whole truth about him being human originally her father might still be angry with her for disobeying him. A few tears from Moka and he was too likely to punish her for going too far.

She let the bloodied whip fall from her blistered, quivering hand. Ria then went over and ripped off the ropes releasing him, noticing he was still barely conscious. When he spoke, through his ragged breathes, it still amazed her that after all this, he could still say what he did. "I'm...sorry...hurt...you...still...love...you, Ria...chan."

The silver haired vampiress snatched his hair, purposely digging into his scalp and twisting his hair, pulling out gouges of clumps of skin and tufts of his dark locks at the same time.

"Get out of here. I'll leave you be for the next week and give you a chance to recover. But understand this," her voice had a lethal edge to it. "You will **never **speak of what happened here tonight or what I said to you. If I ever learn you have spoken of this to anyone, especially to _her_, I _will_ kill your family Tsukune. I will kill them and video tape so you can watch. Do you understand me?"

"Yes Ria," he choked out through a stream of blood.

Her hand cracked down about his face. "Ria-sama! Go and rest up now, when I call on you again I intend to make everything we did before look like child's play."

She stormed out of the bedroom and into the shower, staring at the wall to try and unfocus the anger that was still raging inside of her.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid..." She chanted to herself with angry tears falling down her face. "I'll never let him do that to me again. Never."

* * *

Their remaining sessions before he went back to the Academy were brutal. She'd meant to break his will completely, yet she never did. However, she was also very aware that he never touched her with friendly familiarity again or told her he loved her. He only did what was instructed of her and suffered through those agonizing sessions with robotic acceptance. This annoyed her even more, knowing it was in him to feel, to offer her those kind smiles, those many gestures of affections and yet here he was doing nothing more then sitting quietly in the limo at time, saying nothing unless spoken to, responding as if he was just one of her many slaves.

She really had beaten the soul out of him. Ria wondered, with smile hope, that Moka was also in the receiving end of it, because it was doing terrible things to her as someone who had come to really care for this boy. It didn't matter though. Aono Tsukune was no longer going to be 'that' kind of person in her life. In the end he'd defeated her and become Moka's mate and her brother. She was forbidden to ever directly harm him again.

_I always underestimated him, _she thought. _He has a strength that I've never understood. _

Her cell phone rang and she opened it with a snap. "Yes?"

"Ria-sama, we have acquired Kurono Kurumu's private phone number," the operative told her.

"Give it to me," she ordered. As she took the number she remembered the reception where she had last seen the succubus only yesterday.

* * *

The wedding had been a boring affair and the reception was turning out to be no better. She supposed that was because to her the ceremony had been completely irrelevant. It was a purely human custom, and had meaning only to the humans present and those monsters who actually cared about such trivialities. The _real _wedding had taken place some months ago in Castle Akashiya. They had drunk each other's blood and her father had officially accepted Tsukune as a son, so far as Moka's family was concerned she had already been his wife for some time now.

It was a sign of how much Tsukune had impressed her father that he was here now and had commanded all his children to attend as well and to treat Tsukune's family and friends with _respect_. She shook her head in wonder at that, her father treating humans with respect. Tsukune really was something.

She was looking at him across the hall as he danced with his mother. He'd had the ceremonial first dance with Moka and now the second was with his mother. She could see where his little harem was lined up eagerly waiting their turns. The snow maiden with the bun in the oven looked like she was next in line. Then there were the two perverted witches. She noted the slutty succubus wasn't with the others. She was seated at a table getting brow beaten by her mother and another woman with plum colored hair. Moka was off receiving congratulations from various guests.

Ria refocused her attention back on Tsukune. When she had first met him she really had though him to be nothing. A weak naïve little boy that Moka had turned so that she would no longer be alone. Ria had been certain she could treat as just another play thing. Oh but he had surprised her! First by refusing her advances, and later by actually beating her and destroying all her well laid plans! She had taught him how to play chess; he'd been a complete amateur while she played at a Grand master's level.

But he'd beaten her.

He'd played a piece that she'd never suspected he had and taken her, the Queen, by complete surprise. Then he'd captured the King, her Lord father, and won the game. Yes, he'd beaten her, out smarted, out maneuvered, and out played her. She hated him for that, and loved him for it too.

A fat middle aged human approached her telling her how beautiful she was and asking her if she'd ever done any modeling. She could smell the lust coming off of him in a putrid cloud. She walked away from him without so much as an acknowledgment or look.

* * *

Tsukune had finished dancing with his mother and was approaching Mizore when Ria stepped in front of him and neatly caught his hand.

"May I have the next dance, brother dear?" She saw the way he was looking at her and how his whole body tensed up. "I ask only for one dance, nothing more. If you grant this to me I promise to leave you and your blushing bride in peace for the remainder of the reception."

"Don't you have to do that anyway?" Tsukune replied with a feigned calm. "Your father said you weren't allowed to cause me or Moka any harm."

"Oh me, oh my that's very true. _Our _father did order me to never cause you or Moka any _direct _harm. So I supposed if you won't grant my little request I'll have to find some other way to entertain myself. Perhaps I should go and see if your father would like to reminisce with me about old times. I wonder what your mother would think about some of the things I could tell her."

She saw the tense on his face and knew she had him. Holding his hand she led him back onto the dance floor as the music began for the next song. He did not resist. When they got there he tried to keep her at arm's length.

"No need to be shy," she teased and slid in to press herself against him so that he could feel her breasts pushing into his chest as she put her arms around him. "After all we've been much closer than this before."

"I've tried very hard to forget those times," he told her stiffly as they began to move with the music.

"Really? And I made such an effort to make our time together memorable."

"So did I, but if I remember correctly it was you who didn't appreciate how it was going. Since we're not going to be that way with each other anymore, Ria, why can't you leave Moka and I alone?" He said with his own regret, a bittersweet ache in his voice was as clear as day.

"Leave you alone?" She asked pleasantly. "How could I? We are **family **now Tsukune. We share a connection that will never be broken. Like it or not I will be a part of your life for as long as we both shall live. And given what we are that may be for quite a long while."

"All I want is for you to leave us alone now," he told her desperately, unable to hide a mildly pained frown. The ghost in his eyes clearly spoke of memories just hiding behind the surface of his feelings.

"That will never happen Tsukune," Ria told him and deliberately rocked her hips as they danced causing him a little added friction where it would be most enjoyable.

"Do you really hate me so much that you can't stand the idea of my being happy?"

She tilted her head a bit and smiled demurely. "Couldn't it be I love you so much I can't stand the thought of you married to the wrong sister?"

"Don't even joke about that," he said frostily, knowing all to well that those words had been reversed not so long ago and he paid dearly for it.

"Who is joking? Did you know we vampires have a tradition that if a married sibling dies one of her sisters is supposed to take her place? Tell me brother dear who would you prefer? Myself, Kahlua, or Kokoa. Despite our differences wouldn't I be better for you than an immature assassin or a girl you have to charm every few days to keep her from attacking you?"

"I'd take my chance with either of them before I'd ever consider being with you. Even if they might try to kill me at least neither of them would deliberately torture and humiliate me."

She smiled as though he'd complimented her. "Well you do bring out the passion in me Tsukune, which is why I would be best for you."

"Passion?" He said disdainfully. "The only thing you have for me is hatred that's the exact opposite of what Moka gives me."

"Don't be so sure Tsukune," Ria told him. "Strong feelings can change from love to hate as easily as the wind can change direction. Six of one or half a dozen of the other, who can really tell which is which? Isn't it all just a matter of perception? Are you really so certain that Moka could never hate you and I could never love you?"

"I know that you could never love me. I did love you, but you made it perfectly clear that your love and my own aren't the same. It's best that we just keep away from each other." He told her with utter certainty.

She looked at him closely and ran a single gloved finger along his chin, an action she'd often performed during their times together. She saw him blush, his breath hitched at the memories that one small act brought to his mind. Seeing that pleased her, he obviously hadn't forgotten their time together.

"You know that do you? You didn't always feel that way," she said quietly.

His blush darkened as more memories flooded in.

"You fooled me, I admit it. You're an incredible liar, but then you laughed in my face and told me the truth, that you had no feelings for me at all."

"What if my confession was the truth and my denial was the lie?" She asked him.

"I don't think you could tie down and _whip _someone you loved almost to death."

"What is that old human saying? 'You only hurt the ones you love?' As I said, love turns to hate and hate to love, but the passion was always real between us."

He shook his head and was relieved that the song was nearly over. "All you ever do is twist things around until I can't tell what's up or down. This is all pointless anyways. The only one I'll ever be married to is Moka."

"Don't be so certain, things can happen you know. Moka is immortal but not indestructible."

"Is that a threat?" He asked darkly.

Ria calmly shook her head. "You heard my father's command that I never harm either of you. So long as my father is alive I shall never challenge that."

A sudden thought occurred to him. "What would you do if anything happened to him?"

"Then, brother dear, all bets would be off." The music came to an end as did their dance. Before he could pull away she got up on her toes and placed a soft kiss on his startled lips, like the kind they shared the first time they had touched each other gently.

"I wish you every happiness Tsukune," she then walked quickly away from him. She knew he would think her words just one more of her lies mean to confuse him.

There was no point in trying to convince him that they were the simple truth.

* * *

"Hello! The amazingly beautiful Kurono Kurumu speaking! How can I help you?" A cheerful voice answered.

Ria rolled her eyes. She could practically hear the young succubus bouncing as she spoke.

"Kurumu, this is Sekitan Ria, Moka's sister."

There was a momentary pause, then a click and a droning sound that indicated a dead line.

"Silly girl," Ria chuckled as she redialed. Ria was expecting to be sent to voice mail but Kurumu again answered. Though this time she didn't sound cheerful.

"Why are you calling me?" She demanded hotly.

"Are you aware that your aunt Shade is currently with Moka and Tsukune?"

There was a slight pause on the other end of the line. "Yes I know about that. My auntie went there to try and help them with the problems _you _caused."

"How generous of her," Ria commented with false graciousness. "Is it typical of Succubi therapy methods to beat one patient and leave her trapped in an illusion and cause the other one to try and strangle his therapist to death?"

"What are you talking about?" Kurumu demanded.

Ria related the events as she'd been told them. "At this moment Moka is trapped in an illusion while Tsukune and your aunt are lying unconscious on the ground."

"I don't believe you! My aunt would never do anything like that! And why would you call to tell me even if she did?"

Obviously she could not mention the bet and her true motivation. "I'm calling because it would be annoying to have my little sister's marriage fall apart so soon after it began. I would simply _hate _to have your aunt steal him away from Moka. First we'd eventually have to announce all the family members of the break up and then get my father involved with this whole silly ordeal. It would be quite a mess."

"My aunt would never do that!"

Ria sighed. "You're probably right, I mean even though she is an arch succubus I am sure she would never do something like steal another woman's husband and simply use him for sex."

"…"

"Then again we've both experienced what he's like as a lover." She sighed dreamily into the phone's receiver. "With his stamina and skill, I'm sure there's no chance your aunt would try and make him her own."

That seemed to be the only encouragement she needed.

"Where are they staying and what's the fastest way there?"

Ria grinned. She'd just added a new piece to the game and made her counter to Shade's moves. "If you have a pen I'll give you the directions. Better yet I can have someone pick you up."

Her little game with Shade was sure to come to a close that she could enjoy. Now, the question was what was she going to do with her little pet...


	19. Ch19 Memories Revealed Pt 1

The Bet Ch 19

AN: From here and the next chapter things are going to get very explicit and rough. If you don't want to be exposed to that, you may want to just skip it. You have been warned.

Your Mistress.

* * *

"What?" Ria squawked, unable to comprehend the level of role play they were about to explore.

"I want you to slap me. Hard." Her Destined One asked eagerly, hopefully. Tsukune was looking at her with a child's hopeful excitement like a little boy asking for a special treat.

Kurumu (in Ria's form) was obviously conflicted with what to do. She glanced around the room, then eventually at the ceiling, as if to ask Kami for guidance in how to handle this bizarre situation. She believed in violence only when it was necessary to protect herself or her friends, so the idea of deliberately hurting Tsukune made her very uncomfortable. Tsukune was her first in everything, so she didn't have the advantage of previous experience as her mother or auntie had.

"Is this what I'm supposed to feel guilty about?" The ethereal Tsukune asked Shade.

"Wait and watch, Tsukune-sama." She chided gently, gesturing towards the play as it acted itself out.

Ria's gloved hand bent itself slightly at the wrist and crossed Tsukune's face. It was barely more than a pat of her fingers across his chin.

"Harder," Tsukune growled in restrained patience.

She swung again, this time, making a light 'smack' as her hand went across his cheek.

"I said harder, Kurumu-chan. You're ruining it!" He growled in frustration. "Don't treat me like you're afraid to hurt me, treat me like you hate me. Treat me like I'm nothing to you! Now _really _hit me. _Do it_!"

Ria gave a curt nod and pulled her hand all the way back and all but slugged him. It knocked him a few steps back, but he still was standing. She wanted to give him what she wanted, but it still was her Destined One in front of her, the last person on earth she ever wanted to hurt. He was _her_ Tsukune, the love of her life and she couldn't understand him wanting her to hurt him. For her to be anything but tender or gentle to him was completely unnatural.

Her love sighed and looked at her in obvious disappointment. "Maybe I can get Yukari to do a better job. I'm sure she would know how to treat me the way I want. Even though she's a twelve year old she'd probably be better suited to such an adult request."

SLAP!

Tsukune fell across the floor, knocked down by the suddenly vicious blow. 'Ria' had put all of her strength into that slap, all of her youkai energy. For a second she'd actually been tempted to release her claws.

How could he say that to her?! She was doing her best for him! How could he say something so deliberately cruel?

"You're such a good kind man," Shade clucked her tongue at him, clearly enjoying his look of discomfort. "You probably think you poked at her like that just to get a slight rise out of her, but you hurt her. You didn't even offer someone as a potential challenge for her to be compared to like Moka or Mizore. Instead you compared her to a child. Do you have _any _idea how insulting that was? As a succubus and a woman your words were nothing but a sign of complete scorn."

"She said she would help me," he mumbled. He remembered saying the words offhandedly. Had they really been that big a deal? He'd only been trying to put her in the right mood. He hadn't meant anything by them. He watched the way 'Ria's' lips quivered, the way her ears turned a deep ugly red behind her long raven locks while he was still on the floor trying to recover. He had not seen it while he was trying to get back up onto his feet, but he saw it now. "I really wanted to 'feel' that way again. Is that so wrong?"

"Not really," Shade conceded. "Let's continue to watch, shall we?"

His words really affected her and made her angry. She took a couple deep breaths and wiped the tears away before he could notice them. _Ugh, fine! He wants me to be a bitch I can be a bitch!_

"Oh me, oh my, brother dear, I think I'll give you exactly what you want." Ria's thick lilt got Tsukune's attention.

The illusionary Tsukune's head perked up. The ghostly one turned attentive, especially when Shade gripped his sleeve and pointed out, "Now this is another proud moment for my little Mumu-chan. My imotou made her watch me do this to a particular client of mine. He was very wealthy and loved to be controlled. Tell me what you think afterwards, hmm?"

The real Tsukune just nodded, watching his life relived before him. He knew what was coming next of course and was not proud of it. By this point though he was resigned and stood there silently.

"You've been such a bad boy, Tsukune," Ria walked away from him contemptuously back to their bed, her eyes narrowed accusingly, disapprovingly. "Come here," she commanded. "I want to do something with you, _Brother Dear_."

Tsukune didn't rush over to her like he did last time. He remembered their last lesson and he controlled his excitement by approaching her low to the ground and carefully, like a whipped dog with its tail between its legs.

He stopped just inches from her, eyes properly lowered. His breathing came out slightly haggard, as if impatient to do her bidding and pounce on the first demand she gave.

Ria hiked her dress up a little, showing off her shapely, well formed calves and well toned thighs sheathed in black nylon and black heels. "Do you think my legs are pretty? I can't help but notice you keep looking at them."

"Yes, Ria-sama. I love the way your legs look." Tsukune's voice was almost a pant.

"Do you want to touch them? Kiss them?" Ria's voice was curious. Her long fingers dragged alluringly over the front of her shins, fanning them over her knee then over the fine expanse of her thighs to the clip of her garters.

Tsukune nodded, his shoulder's taut and flexing.

"I can't hear you." Ria scolded.

"Yes, Ria-sama. I would love to touch them, kiss them. Please, let me put my mouth on them." He leaned forward, but was stopped by the flat of a black four inch heel right in the middle of his forehead.

"No," Ria extended her foot hard enough against him to put a mark on his head. "You are going to sit there like a good dog and pant."

"Ria-sama..." he whined, the timbre of his voice trembling and reflecting the sheer want in his dark brown eyes. When he could not graze her legs with his hands or mouth, his eyes wondered up to where her stockings ended and her panties began. His discipline to keep his appendages to himself was great.

"Just where are you looking, Tsukune?" Ria's frosty voice made him lower his eyes.

"N-no where, Ria-sama." he muttered into the carpet.

"Liar," Her voice was sing song sweet. "Look at me, Tsukune."

When he raised his eyes, they went straight to hers.

"Oh? Lost interest already? You didn't want to look into my eyes before, so why start now?" She lectured, raising one fine leg and resting the back of her calf over his right shoulder and pulling her dress higher up her legs. The black straps and the tops of her stockings exposed the very luscious flesh of her thighs right before her black lace panties. "This is what you wanted to see first, isn't it, Tsukune? This is REALLY what you wanted, you bad boy. Tell me it isn't so."

Tsukune nodded, exhaling his hot breath over the sheer fabric, making the skin of her inner thighs up to her womanhood warm. The scent of her own interest was becoming more and more noticeable.

"Yes, I-I want to look at you, Ria-sama. Thank you. You are very generous." He lurched forward to taste her, but she stopped him with a long fingernail in the middle of his forehead.

"Tsk, Tsk...taking the lead without my permission. You really are a naughty boy, Tsukune. Very naughty indeed." Ria's voice sounded like heated honey.

"Ria-sama?"

"I'm going to give you a choice, Tsukune." Ria arched her scented hips towards him, slightly whimpering at what she wanted to give him. "That's very generous of me don't you think?"

"Yes, Ria-sama," he said through a parched throat.

"Here are your choices brother dear. One, you can sit there and watch. You can have your fill of me right there, but," she moved her finger from his forehead and began to slowly rub the front of her darkening fabric, earning a small tremble from her left thigh. Ria whispered a moan as she continued to draw her digit up and down her slit, every now and then putting pressure on her tender nub. "You can't touch me."

A pathetic whine escaped his lips. He was like some pathetic dog being denied a bone that was just out of reach.

"Or," Ria licked her lips, her eyes narrowed hungrily at Tsukune. "You can touch me, taste me, love me freely, willingly with your mouth and only your mouth, but you must keep your eyes closed. So which will it be?"

"I-I want to touch you, taste you, Ria-sama. Please...please let me-"

"Ah-ah-ah," She wagged her finger at him, holding his head at bay when he went to try and dive his head forward between her legs. "You still aren't listening, Tsukune. You're getting too excited and I must prepare in case you must be punished. Now then, what shall we do if you're a bad boy and don't listen? Hmm?"

"Hurt me," Tsukune in the Illusion and the one next to Shade said at the same time.

Shade glanced at the one standing next to her. He didn't seem to realize he'd spoken. The young groom was completely caught up in the moment. She shook her head slightly and her respect for Ria rose one more notch.

It was obvious that the detail to this memory was spot on. So much so, that even the Tsukune being scolded was recalling every detail verbatim.

"Was this a good memory, Tsukune-sama?" Shade asked, her curiosity piqued.

He nodded, almost panting his, "yes."

They both refocused back to the scene.

"Good boy," Ria approved with the tone a master used with her obedient pup. "I will, but how shall I do so? Oh, I know," she slid her stocking sheathed leg over his shoulder up and down, "If you need to be punished, then I'll just have to strangle you."

Tsukune gulped, but nodded eagerly.

Kurumu, she was thinking that she could mount him and then the two of them could enjoy a sexual rodeo that would be quite agreeable, but that was not exactly how it worked out.

Tsukune began slow and gentle enough, his eyes closed and lips parted to receive Ria's leg and thighs hungrily. The raven haired beauty was all too willing to lay back on one elbow and watch her lover tend to her, treating her preciously as he lapped and mouthed her up to but not limiting to her fine pussy.

_Hmmm, maybe this won't be too bad after all, _Kurumu thought.

There was no denying her had a masterful tongue and he was sooooo very eager to please. She let out a low moan as she felt him lubricating and gently sucking her most tender parts. The feel of his mouth and tongue made her twitch and jerk spasmodically, illiciting the most lustful sounds came out of both of them for minutes at a time. Tsukune's skill was really quite remarkable, and Kurumu's moans and twitches as Ria were no act. They were the real heartfelt reactions of a woman enjoying the talents of her lover.

Shade's chin rested on the ghostly Tsukune's shoulder. "You really are _quite_ the lover, aren't you, Tsukune? Most men want to receive but not give. Thank you for taking care of my little Mumu-chan like this. I know this isn't the first time you've been this attentive to her. Do you think you could be so kind as to share the same with me?"

Tsukune didn't try to shake himself free of her. Watching himself enjoy the nether heat of Ria's body was so amazingly erotic, so amazingly sexual that he actually reached out to touch her, but there was nothing to touch.

Shade's voice was teasing at his ear. "I won't let you, Tsukune, at least not yet. You need to just watch for now. If we survive this, and if you're still interested, I promise to take care of you."

He gave her a disappointed look. "So you force sex on those who don't want it, but refuse sex to those who do? Even when you just offered?"

He watched as she licked her lips. "Oh I'm not denying you Tsukune-sama, but you need to be just a little bit patient." She nodded to the scene in front of them. "I still have a lot to show you."

Tsukune nodded and turned his focus back to it.

For Shade, that was good enough. At this point her bet was as good as won.

"Bad Tsukune!" Ria's voice was sharp and so was the sound of Tsukune being kicked forcefully across the room with a loud thud that left a deep impression against the wall.

"My, my, what could you have done?" Shade teased, tilting her head towards the illusion of Tsukune's body falling back onto the wood plank floor.

"I opened my eyes," he real Tsukune admitted.

The illusionary Tsukune lowered his head in submission.

"What did we agree on, Tsukune? If you opened your eyes, what were we going to do to the bad, naughty boy who didn't listen?" Ria snaked up like a wraith from the bed.

"I'm going to be punished, Ria-sama." He clambered back to his knees, looking down at the floor as was proper.

The real Tsukune smiled, his lips twitching without regret. "I opened them on purpose."

"You really do love being in trouble, hmm?" Shade remarked casually, as if all this were an everyday occurrence for her.

"Every now and then, but only with people I trust." he watched as 'Ria' huffed, smoothing her dress back about her legs as if she had been indignantly insulted by him.

Ria's heels clicked on the floor as she approached him, eventually leaning her thigh against his shoulder. "Take off my shoes, and then my stockings, Tsukune." She deliberately dug the point of her heel into his leg, causing his to wince. "Slowly. I want to feel your hands on me from my thighs, to my feet. I'm going to wrap my stockings around your neck, and then slowly choke you. That is your punishment."

"Yes, Ria-sama." Tsukune trembled in anticipation, nodding eagerly.

His hands trailed up her legs possessively, eagerly. She allowed him to fumble his thick fingers on her beautiful legs, even going as far as stroking the top of his head, running her fingers through his hair with tender affection.

"I'm going to hurt you, Tsukune. You're going to beg me to let you breathe, but I won't, not without my permission. You've been such a bad boy...such a bad, bad boy." She sang his punishment to him with a soft serenity that seemed alien to the punishment she was about to administer.

"Yes, Ria-sama. You're too good to me. Thank you for hurting me." He was absolutely shivering with anticipation.

He had removed her stockings, unclipping them one at a time and then slowly rolled them down to her ankles. Her shoes were unhinged from her heel and then placed by the foot of the bed.

She flicked her fingers to her left. "On the bed, Tsukune. I want you on your back."

Tsukune shuffled his way over to the bed, his head resting on the pillows looking back at her.

"Your hands, I want them holding the headboard."

He gripped the thick brass bars and nodded.

"Now then, be a good boy and don't move."

Ria skimmed her body over Tsukune as she moved to tie his hands with one stocking, first starting with his right wrist and then his left. She straddled him, comfortably settling herself over his engorged, naked cock with only the thin fabric of her panties keeping him from entering her. As she tied him, her breasts purposely grazed over his face, his cheek, earning a shuddering moan that even the ghost Tsukune couldn't repress.

"You remember this well, don't you, Tsukune?" Shade inquired with interest.

Tsukune nodded happily. Reliving this moment had caused him to completely lose his inhibitions. Everything was exactly as he recalled. He couldn't wait to see what he and Kurumu did next. If he was remembered correctly, it was about to get quite exciting.

"Look at me, Tsukune," Ria said in a soft, enticing voice.

When he did, he saw all the hunger, all the lustful desire Kurumu held for him and he couldn't help but reflect it in his own way.

The real Ria had looked at him the same way, just as hungry and just as wanting.

"Ria-sama." He whimpered desperately.

Ria touched the silky fabric garment under her chin, skimming the heavenly globes of her breasts. Draping it over her neck, she reached back and undid her dress, letting it fall till it pooled around her and him at the waist. With her hands still behind her back, she unsnapped her bra, letting it fall down her arms and then off to the side.

"Ria-sama...I-I want to taste them-"

"No," She said smartly, laying over him as she circled the lone stocking around his neck, looping it one and a half times so that she could pull sideways to cause it to tighten. "Remember, Tsukune, you're being punished. You don't get to enjoy yourself. I want you to suffer, brother dear."

Leaning forward, she brushed her hair over his face, nuzzling his lips with her own. "Feel free to beg though Tsukune. It won't help you, but I want to hear it anyway. Beg like the dog you are. Will you do that for me?"

"Yes, Ria-sa-urk" His eyes bulged a little when Kurumu tugged just hard enough.

"What was that, Tsukune?" She started to grind against him, moving in slow, steady circles against his throbbing member. "I didn't quite hear you."

"I...I can't bre-uurr." his voice was cut off for just a few seconds, then he was allowed to breath, which he did in deep pants. When he tried to reach for her or for his neck, he was withheld by her silk stockings. This made him very aware of how vulnerable he was to Kurumu and how much trust he had to have in her to allow her to do this to him.

"You're not doing as I say, Tsu-ku-ne. Beg for me," Ria sang with slight pleasure, pressing herself down against him, eager to have him inside her so badly that her fluids had soaked her panties and were sticking to him. She was grinding her hips ever so slowly, letting herself rub against him with only that little bit of fabric in the way.

Kurumu giggled with Ria's voice, enjoying the control she had over him and their little game. Everything had gone pretty well, except for that slight slip where he had brought up Yukari's name. _I think I can deal with this, _she thought confidently. She still wasn't completely comfortable with Tsukunhe's masochism, but she thought she could deal with it. Despite how things had started they were in the midst of some very intense lovemaking. By her own controlled sighs and with the way her hips rolled in growing intensity and pressure it wouldn't be long till she stripped off that final bit of clothing and let herself be impaled by Tsukune's thick cock.

She congratulated herself with coming up with choking as the punishment for their little game. Partial asphyxsciation was an actual technique that had long been used to enhance sexual stimulation. Though she had never practiced it before she was familiar with the concept. Of course she was being very careful not to do him and serious harm. All her cruel words were just that, words, they were just play acting. A little bit of pain could be pleasurable, but she woild never do any _real _harm to her destined one.

"My, my, look at my little Mumu-chan go. I always knew she had a talent in this, wouldn't you agree, Tsukune? Aren't you glad I taught her this?" Shade announced proudly, preening with self acknowledged pride.

"I need...need..." Tsukune murmured beside her, his hand tried to reach down to his own member, but to no avail. His body was only as real as Shade would allow him, and this was not something permitted.

"Do you want me to touch you while you watch, Tsukune?" Shade whispered hotly behind his ear, her fingers rubbing the front of his pants and causing remarkable sensations that he couldn't help but react to.

"Yes, please...please touch me," he tried to take her hand into his own, forcing it to add more pressure to his throbbing dick.

"Anything you wish, Tsukune-sama," Shade said sweetly, but rather than giving him the release he wanted she pulled away from him and grabbed his hair, forcing him to look at the scene before him.

"Wha-what the hell?!" He spluttered incredulously.

"You didn't say you wanted me to be gentle, Tsukune-sama. You also forgot to tell me _where _you wanted to be touched. Now, watch...I think you're in for a big surprise in just a bit."

"I know what happens! Kurumu and I start having sex and she starts to forces me like Ria did when...when..." his eyes dulled over, looking back at the scene before him as if he was lost in a daze.

His own scream sounded alien to his memory and to the mood around them.

"Ria, I don't want to! I love Moka!" The Tsukune being straddled by Ria screamed at the top of his lungs, scaring the hell out of Kurumu in Ria's image. Before he couldn't break free of her stockings, but with a simple jerk of his arms, the youkai fabric disappeared with a long ripping tear of fabric.

With wide, confused eyes, Kurumu looked at her Destined One as he began to thrash under her in painful spasms, jerking here and there as if trying to get away from her.

"Tsukune...wha-what's wrong?" Ria's voice cracked and held genuine concern. She was afraid she'd done something and possibly caused him real harm.

"Please, stop! It hurts, Ria! I don't want you to touch me like that! No, d-don't! I only love, Moka! I don't want this...please! I...I...No, no, no!" Tsukune's eyes were rolling up into his head, thrusting his hips about so hard that he literally ejected Kurumu off of him, making her smack the side of her shoulder and face hard enough to make her yelp.

"Wh-what is going on," The real Tsukune murmured as he witnessed the chaotic scene in front of them.

"What do you mean? This is what happened. Don't you remember?" Shade watched him carefully, weighing his reactions and emotions with keen interest.

"No, this can't be. I don't remember-" He put his hand to the side of his head, trying to put in place where this actually happened.

"Oh, it looks like the other you remember quite well. This memory, with my Mumu-chan, is exactly what she expressed to me. A little off, wouldn't you say?"

"But...but I...this can't be. I remember Kurumu and I..." The young groom Aono began perplexed.

"What? That you and her what, Tsukune?" A knowing smile mocked him. "Do tell me, you and Mumu what?"

Tsukune watched as Kurumu dispelled her illusion. Ria vanished and a panicked blue haired succubus took her place. She was kneeling beside Tsukune as he screamed at the top of his lungs, wracked with painfully powerful seizures. Kurumu looked terrified and completely out of her depth.

"Tsukune, what's the matter with you?" Kurumu cried at his side, her hands covering her mouth. The young succubus was obviously scared, she didn't know what was wrong with her Destined One. She wouldn't leave his side. He needed her. Her love, her man, her Tsukune was in some kind of danger and she didn't know what to do to help him.

"Tsukune! Please tell me what's wrong!"

"Aaaaah! No, Ria! I don't want you to! Please, stop...no, I don't like it when you...when you...yes...faster, Ria..."

His body seemed to calm, relax. His body moved differently, as if he was sharing a moment to a specter, a loving invisible entity that held him in thrall that he could not deny. His eyes, those dark brown eyes glazed over again into another memory, another body, Moka's sister and how she had been with him on that night. He was lost to her in his mind, lost in a moment in time that this poisonous sliver of his life began to relive again and suffer willingly its glorious hardship Sekitan Ria had so generously given him over and over again. Pelvis and thighs thrust high into empty air as if pushing into some ghost.

"I want you to titty fuck me faster, Ria-sama." He breathed exultantly, happily. He wasn't looking at Kurumu but was staring into empty space.

Kurumu knelt with the blanket in her small fist, shaking her head at the growing downfall of her beloved. "Tsukune..."

"Hnn....Hnnnnnnn....Aahhhh...Ria....Riaa..." Tsukune's eyes rolled up in their sockets as his body began its lurch into the throes of his climax.

Kurumu was nowhere near him, had not even touch him, yet his rock hard dick began to spurt cum high into the air, landing all over him in messy white ribbons.

Panting in sweaty exhaustion, he finally crumpled into the mattress with a blissful sigh. His breathing eventually evened out, the thin glossy sheen of his physical exertion finally returning to a normalcy that Kurumu felt comfortably to try and approach. His eyelids closed and he looked to be at peace. The strange attack seemed to be over.

"Tsukune?" Kurumu inched closer to him, her large violet eyes pleading him to be alright. "Tsukne, baby, are you all right?" She asked tenderly, holding on to her composure only because he needed her to remain calm.

When he opened them, a perfectly normal Tsukune smiled back at her. "That was wonderful, Kurumu-chan! Wow, I'm so sore...what did you do to me?"

The blue haired lover could only move her jaw silently, unable to answer him.

"What happened here?" He touched her face where a small carpet burn was starting to redden.

"I fell." She mumbled uncertainly. "Tsukune, are you okay?"

He blinked at her. "Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Don't you know? Don't you remember anything?"

He laughed. "Are you kidding? It's be pretty hard to forget! Yeah. Wow, Kurumu, I really have to thank you. I can't believe you would do this with me. You were so great! I feel like I'm floating on air...of course, floating with a very sore back and my neck...heh, what did you do to me, Kurumu-chan?" He gave her a gentle kiss. "Be just a little less rough with me next time, you big bully. Okay?"

His tease made her feel a little better.

"O… okay." She murmured in such a lost voice it made him take another look at her.

"Are you okay, Kurumu-chan?" He rubbed her bare shoulder with his large hands.

"Yeah," She said in an unconvincing tone, "Let's get some sleep, Tsukune. We have to get up to take you back home in the morning."

"Okay, Kurumu-chan," He nuzzled next to her, kissing her cheek. "Thank you again for tonight. I love you."

The way he said that, those three little words, made her melt so easily into him. He had never said it to her like that, and it was with so much earnest conviction that she couldn't help but wonder for the longest time if for just that moment, he loved her more than Moka.

That was all it took to convince her to keep trying to play Ria for him. Yeah, she could deal with this for that kind of love. It really wasn't anything and no one was really hurt. Maybe she could talk to her mother about it later and see what she had to say. She knew there was no way she could talk to the others about this, most especially not to Moka. There was no way they'd understand. Besides, she wanted to keep this as their own little secret. She'd finally found her special place with him. This was something that she alone coulde do for her Destined One.

"I love you, too, Tsukune." She breathed against his warm chest. "I promise to be more careful next time."

Shade observed the mixed emotions crossing Tsukune's face as the illusion ended, the dominant one was a still mild defiance.

"This doesn't prove anything." He said hotly, attempting to shove Shade away from him.

She released him, but sauntered away with a playful mocking curiosity. "Oh? What doesn't this prove?"

"Why you did what you did to Moka. Why you did what you did to us! You are still wrong for this!"

"I see," she peeked over her sunglasses at him. "You still think Kurumu had no reason to call me? You don't think you scared her there?"

His hand fisted into a ball and tapped the side of his hip in a thoughtful gesture. "I admit, what I remember is different from what you showed me. I even admit that I remember waking up from our time together and seeing her so scared and wondering why. I believe everything you showed me is more accurate then what I remember. That still doesn't excuse you for assaulting my wife!"

"Do you deny that what you did hurt her?"

"Fine! I hurt her! I admit it, and for that I'm sorry! But she was willing to do this for me! If she had just told me she didn't want to do it again I wouldn't have forced her! She _told me _she wanted to! I didn't force her! She did and it was great! Whatever it may have done to scare her a little, it's something that should have stayed between me and her! This didn't involve Moka, you, or anyone else! I trusted her and she betrayed me!"

Shade's shoulder's slumped, as if in defeat.

"You're right, Tsukune. I give up." She appeared to be a woman of stature now, giving in to a defeat as a general would to his enemy. "You win. I am completely wrong and I will even go as far as saying that I will allow you and Moka to do with me as you wish. I'm going to withdraw Kurumu from you and your tight nit circle of friends. Assuming we come back, you are never going to see us again. Is that what you want, Tsukune?"

Tsukune was about to announce that he did, but he couldn't without thinking over what he and Kurumu had been through. He loved her, really did love her but he couldn't deny that what she did had brought this all upon his wife and him.

"I want you out of our lives. I do want Kurumu in my life, but I also want her to know the gravity of what she caused. I don't know if I can forgive her for what she did. Trust is not something that can be easily returned once it's lost." Tsukune answered with finality.

Shade lowered her glasses at him, her jaw working to control a roiling temper. "Is that so?"

It took a great amount of physical, mental, and emotional control to not respond how she had wanted to.

Tsukune nodded, accepting that she had conceded her own faults and admitted she was in the wrong.

"Well then, if I may, I just have one last bit of memory to show you. Just a little something extra that Kurumu showed me that was the 'nail in the coffin', if I must say, that convinced me to come here and do what I did to your wife."

"Fine," Tsukune answered gracelessly. "The sooner this is over the sooner we can go back to ensuring Moka is okay and letting her know that Kurumu and you will no longer bother us."

"As you wish, Tsukune-sama. As you wish. I'm sure after this next bit, you will be overjoyed to know that Kurumu was definitely in the wrong to be worried about you and I was just some rapist that is deserving of what has happened to your lovely wife. I'll accept your punishment and do whatever you and her deem adequate to receive the revenge that Moka is just due."

Young Aono nodded, seeing that things were turning in his favor for the first time in a while. Although, he couldn't get it out of his mind that he could not, for the life of him, deny that Kurumu had indeed looked worried for him when he woke up from their time together. Looking back at the memory exposed to him and what he remembered, he could not think of anything that proved what Shade had showed him and prove it false.

He must have really did what he did without Kurumu and scared her.

He supposed he should apologize to her and ensure her he was okay, but that still didn't constitute what her aunt did to his Moka-chan. If it worried her so much, why didn't she just go to him? He really did hope this last bit answered that question, because he was positive that after this was all over, he could not trust Kurumu in his life ever again.


	20. Ch20 Memories Revealed Pt 2

The mist around them swirled about in a twisted unnatural surge.

Tsukune tapped his foot on whatever it was he was 'standing' on in the middle of whatever place Shade has him in. He hoped the conclusion to this lecture or reprimand was close at hand. Moka was still out 'there' and hadn't been in the best of shape when he was dragged in here.

"How much longer is this going to take?" He grouched in her direction. Whatever patience he had was obviously wearing thin.

"Not long," she had her eyes closed with a slight smirk on her lips. The Mistress of this controlled illusion was giving form to the memory her niece had shared with her. "You _do _understand that these very well could be our last moments don't you? Are you really in such a rush to see what's on the other side?"

"I could also live long enough to see Moka-chan one last time before I go. Maybe I can at least say goodbye to her and tell her I love her one final time."

Shade opened her eyes and looked at him with obvious frustration.

"What?" He snapped, his temper was as worn as his patience.

"You are an impossible person to understand," Shade said in her own exasperated voice. "So much worry and concern for one girl who loves you and nothing at all for the other. Is that because your heart has only so much love in it to spare? Or did you pick and choose who was deserving and who was not?"

He frowned at her. "I _used _to care for Kurumu too before all this happened. Before you went and…"

"...molested your _darling_ Moka in the Ladies Room." Shade flicked her fingers at him in bored annoyance. "Yes, yes I know. I'm sure my _fingering_ her will scar her and leave her broken for life. However, I think it was what I did to her with my tongue that scared her. Young ladies are never prepared for that much skill, especially when their only experience is from a man." She chuckled behind her fingers, but rolled her eyes when she saw Tsukune redden and get ready to explode.

"Here we go..." She interrupted him and gestured with her eyes for him to look behind.

The mist became solid shapes and textures and took on various colors. Eventually, a room was formed; a place that Tsukune was familiar with. It was Kurumu's home. Her mother was there in front of the bathroom door, agitatedly pacing with her arms crossed over her very sizable bosom. Her long aqua colored hair tied in a wavy pony tail and she donned sweat pants and a T-shirt instead of her usually sex kitten attire. Tsukune had never seen Ageha look so casual. He could also honestly say he'd never seen Aghea in such an agitated state.

_What was wrong? _He wondered.

"Kurumu, is it time yet?" Aghea called in a voice that was not like the one he remembered. Concern, impatience, and an expectant motherly keen were qualities that Kurono Aghea was not known for.

"Not yet, momma!" Kurumu replied from behind the door with exasperation. "It takes time!"

"Kurono Kurumu, you better not be playing with me!" Mother Kurono answered with a rising inflection to denote her displeasure, "You said it takes about three minutes and it's been four! Now give me an answer already!"

"Mother, that was with the other brand! This one takes five! Just be patient!" Kurumu was obviously just as eager, but was getting upset at her mother's constant barrage of questions.

"Why did we get this one, then!" Ageha demanded at the unresponsive door.

"Just hold on! We have a few seconds left...I think." The young woman hidden behind the door sounded a bit unsure.

Tsukune could feel the tension in the room, the expectation of something big, something important. Women were still a mystery to him even after all his time around Moka and the others. When it came to their bodies and the functions they had to endure.

Was she sick? Did Kurumu need help with something medically? What was she waiting for that had Aghea in such a state?

Finally, after Aghea had shouted at the top of her lungs that if the door did not open with an answer from Kurumu, she was going to break it down and throttle her, it opened with a very pale Kurumu appearing with a small white stick in her hand.

Aghea's eyes scanned her daughter's face impatiently, "Well? What does it say?"

Kurumu just stared, unable to make sound or gesture.

"Damn it, Kurumu! Answer me! Yes, No? Which one is-"

"Pink," Kurumu mumbled, looking at her mother with that stony weird twist of her cheeks as if she just sucked a lemon.

"Pink," Aghea parroted. "Pink yes or pink no? Good, bad, what does pink _mean_?"

"Pink," Kurumu's face split into the warmest, glowiest smile Aghea, Tsukune, or even Shade had ever seen. "Pink 'yes, good'."

"Yes," Aghea's dark violet eyes popped, all her pretty pearly white teeth showing. "Good, Yes?"

Kurumu nodded, showing her mother the pink line in the middle. "Yes, yes!"

Both women smashed into the other with a tight embrace and started hopping up and down in a motherly, daughterly hug that left Tsukune with so many unanswered questions.

"What's going on?" He couldn't help but smile himself. The energy was so happy, so honest and loving that he shared their joy though he had no idea what its cause was.

"I'm telling Tsukune!" Aghea grabbed a cell phone off a small end table, tossing her hair with a flirty smile on her face. "You don't mind if I use my naughty voice on him, do you?"

"Mommy, no!" Kurumu jumped at her, trying to grab the phone from her much taller mother.

"Hello, Tsukune-kun!" Ageha jumped out of the way after receiving her daughter's Destined One on the other line. When Kurumu swiped at her mother's ear to get the phone, Aghea nimbly dodged her young daughter with a mischievous agility that belied her generous figure.

"Moooooooom!" Kurumu finally subjected herself to the one thing that she promised she would only do for her Destined One and never any of her boy toys that would still hovered around her, she got on her knees, begging and all but prostrated herself, wailing while her eyes watered with tears. "Please, don't tell him!"

Seeing her daughter subjugate herself so seriously to her when she should have been deliriously happy made her lower the phone just a bit.

"Why not? He'll be happy...won't he?" She knew her daughter should be excited… should be really, REALLY excited that she'd be having her Destined One's baby. This reaction, this fear, was unexplainable and incomprehensible to the older Succubus.

Kurumu begged her mother, "Please hang up the phone, Mommy. Please...?"

Aghea quickly clicked off the phone and knelt in front of her daughter. "Okay, now you're scaring me, Mumu-chan. What is it, baby?"

The young succubus fidgeted under her mother's concerned gaze. "He's going through a rough time with Moka at the moment. Her Inner self and him are butting heads and he's getting the brunt of it. It's complicated, but he's got a lot on his mind."

"This could be the greatest time of his life, sweetheart. It could be what he needs to distract him from his troubles." Her mother suggested helpfully.

"It might make him feel better... but it might also cause him more stress and give him one more thing to worry about. Please let me handle this in my own way!"

"Well, tell me what's going on with his Moka and him. The least I can do give you my opinion." Aghea handed the cell phone back to Kurumu and walked her over to the couch to sit next to her distraught daughter.

"Okay, momma. You see-" Kurumu began by laying on her mother's lap.

She was cut off by Shade's flick of her fingers.

"Oh my, this was a _complete_ mistake," Shade covered her mouth in an false awed 'Ooops, I can't believe I showed you this.' "My fault, my fault. I'll take care of it right away."

Kurumu's and Aghea's conversation faded away to grey mist.

"Wait," everything disappeared, sound, sights, and the girl who had caused him so much trouble in the last few days. "Dammit!"

He rounded on his captor, "Tell me what that was! Was Kurumu," he swallowed expectantly, hopefully, "pregnant?"

Dark purple locks were swept off her shoulder as she paced around him. "If I remember right, _that's_ no longer your concern. You don't trust her so you don't have to worry now, do you?"

That made him growl. "Just answer me!"

"Oh, now _THAT_ is amusing," She laughed at him, openly threw her head back and howled with mocking delight. "You want to know if she's pregnant, but not a few minutes ago you were ready to dismiss her and wanted nothing to do with her. Now that she may be blessing our world with your seed, she is suddenly significant? How hilarious! Oh, you really are so much fun to be around. Seriously, I can't help but think even," her voice lost its light hearted lilt, turning seriously, deathly, coldly murderous, "_less_ of you now."

Shade's last words came out with such straight honest seriousness he couldn't help but feel almost assaulted by them.

"This is a joke, isn't it?" Tsukune was sick of being treated like this, of being forced to endure all of Shade's hints and innuendo. He was no longer in a mood to listen. "She made you come here and show me that to hurt Moka and I because she wants to get more of my attention, that's what this is about isn't it?"

Now it was Shade's turn to look back at Tsukune with indignity and helpless fury. "How dare you."

"You know what? This whole thing, you being here now and showing me all of this is just to get me to focus more on her than on Moka and the others! She's trying to make me feel sorry for her and keep me from spending time with my wife, my children with Mizore, Ruby and Yukari. That's it, isn't it?"

The Arch Succubus's face lost all traces of emotion and turned piteous. "You're such a pathetic man, aren't you? You really don't care about anyone else but you and your Moka-chan. I know what my niece sees in you, but at times I wonder if you are even worth letting live. There is no way you could be this blind and selfish. I think the best thing I can do right now is just keep my little Mumu-chan and you apart."

"Wait," Tsukune began to see where some of the pieces beginning to fall into place, but the picture they formed didn't make sense. "What does any of this have to do with Moka? Moka would be thrilled and excited if Kurumu was pregnant, just like she was for Mizore. This still doesn't explain your involvement."

"As I said, I just wanted you and your wife to listen to me, but normal words don't pierce vampire pride or male egos, so I did what I had to get here. This was _never _about Moka, Tsukune. What I did was nothing but a means of getting your full attention. Now then, let us continue so I can ensure that once this is all over you and Kurumu can go your own separate ways. Assuming we survive this of course. That will be my last act so that when I'm on the receiving end of whatever _'just'_," she said the word with thick amusement, "punishment I am to receive she won't bother you ever again. As Kurumu's aunt, I'll make sure Aghea keeps her daughter away from you. That _is _what you want right?"

"Stop acting like I'm the bad guy here!" Just as Shade was about to weave her hands to start her next illusion, she heard Tsukune mumble, "This is all a lie anyways."

Mismatched violet and blue eyes opened in surprised wonderment, at his audacity. "What did you say?"

Tsukune took his turn to look unrepentant at Kurumu's aunt. "You're lying."

"Am I?" Her voice was sugary sweet and sarcastic. "And why would I lie about this?"

"Because I remember when Kurumu wanted to talk to me about 'something important' and when her mother called and then hung up. That was a few months ago, but it was nothing more then her wondering if I enjoyed my time with her and other monsters. She was concerned that I might harbor some secret hatred or distaste for our kind."

"'Our' kind," She slowly tasted the word, letting the feel of his admission register. "So you accept that you're no longer human, but a beast, an animal that is far from your birth and that of your parents?"

"I'm no longer a human," he admitted. "I'm aware of what has happened to me and that the people who I care for and love; Moka, Kurumu, Mizore, Ruby, Yukari, everyone aren't either. I still love them regardless of whether they're human or monster. They are all very special to me and I 'am' what they are now."

This made Shade smile, a little warmer this time. "There may be hope for you yet, but for now, lets see if we can get you to at least accept that what I showed you was real."

"It's not," he said with conviction.

"And why is that?" Now she clasped her hands and waited.

"Because I know a little bit about female anatomy. I've seen Mizore get pregnant twice now. Kurumu would have had to be about three weeks to a month'ish for her to show up positive on a paternity test, right?"

Shade nodded, "That's correct."

"Well, from that time that she wanted to talk to me, was about three to three and a half months ago. She'd be close to four, four and a half months pregnant. Give or take a few weeks."

"That's right."

"She's not pregnant. Kurumu would be really showing at the middle of her second trimester."

"What a clever boy you are," she purred. "About some things at least. Well I have only one last thing to show you and then we're done. I promise."

"In that case please hurry up so I can see Moka again."

"As you wish," Shade replied frostily.

Around him the mist swirled and took shape one final time.

A miasma swirled and twisted but nothing recognizable appeared. After waiting longer then he had expected, he glanced over to Shade to see that she was really straining. It wasn't because she was sweating or seemed to exert a physical effort; it was because she was becoming less tangible, less 'real' within her own illusion. She was still there, but her form was less defined, less solid, the outline of her body was beginning to blur.

_I wonder if she is reaching her limit?_ Just as he thought that their environment shaped into that of Kurumu waiting outside of Moka's and Tsukune's temporary abode. They had needed to get away from all their friends to enjoy a private outing that didn't involve Kurumu diving her Destined One's face into her bosom, Yukari's constant cheer of self subjugating pedophilia, and Mizore's constant stalking. Ruby was never a problem until she was adamant about being known, then most, if not all stops would have to be pulled.

Kurumu was making her way up to their little nook, debating if she should just announce what she knew in all of her succubus glory of cheer and giggles. She had offered her Destined One and his mate to join her for dinner. That idea was cut short when Tsukune's uncharacteristically loud bark brought Kurumu's musing out with a start.

"Moka-chan, you're being unreasonable! What do you mean if we have children we can't introduce them to my family? That's completely and totally unfair!" Tsukune's own voice sounded pained, but what really struck a chord in him was the rebuttal from his Moka.

Inner Moka's voice cut through the air with razor sharp precision cutting into him as casually as she might have any opponent.

"You would have a child of mine being taught the ways of humans and their ilk? Don't be any more of a fool then what you already are, Tsukune! Just because you've survived a few years exposed to monsters, thrown your frail human body in front of a few pathetic weaklings and managed to get the approval of my father does NOT entitle you to dictate the how the next line of vampires under the name Akashiya will be raised!"

The mention of Tsukune and Moka having a child made Kurumu wince. Why was the prospect of having a child together making them both so angry?

"I'm you're husband!" His tone was indignant and demanding. "Our children _will_ be raised in both a human and vampire traditions! One is not better then the other!"

"How **_dare_** you mock _my_ kind by calling them equivalent to yours!" Inner Moka snapped off viciously. "You were nothing but food before I allowed my soft outer self to suffer your presence and now you wish to have those born of Akashiya blood to be poisoned by those ridiculous beliefs humans that humans follow? Never!"

The discussion grew more venomous and heated with Tsukune wincing at the verbal barbs thrown at him by the 'other' Moka.

"Where," the real Tsukune had to swallow hard to brace himself for this memory. It was one of the most bitter and difficult arguments he him and Moka had been forced to endure. At the time he had honestly wondered if it would end their relationship. "Was she to be able to hear this? We were in my room just getting ready to leave for a night out with Kurumu. If she heard all this why didn't she say anything?"

"Can't you tell, Tsukune? She was right outside your very door." Shade gestured where the young succubus stared at the door with foreboding. "As far as her not saying anything, well that's easy. You were suffering enough and she was a lot like you. My Mumu-chan put _you _and Moka's feelings before her own." Shade shook her head in wonder. "Just about any other succubus in her position would have used this information to try and turn her Destined One away from her rival and bring him closer to herself. **I **wouldn't have thought twice about it. To Mumu-chan _your _happiness was all that mattered even if the const was her own. Unlike a certain someone." She glared at him leaving no doubt who she had in mind.

"I didn't think we were that loud." Tsukune turned away in obvious shame, knowing full well what was going to be said next.

"You were for a while, but there is more to it, I guess, then what Kurumu overheard. Would you mind explaining that?" She politely inquired.

"It's none of her business," he snapped, making her smirk at his spike in anger. "What happens between Moka and I has nothing to do with you."

"If you insist," she politely bowed out, then returned to the illusion. "Just remember that whatever happens to Kurumu is the business of her and her family, Tsukune."

Feeling distinctly uncomfortable Kurumu left the door and swiftly walked away. She then pulled out her phone and punched in Tsukune's number. It rang for just a few times before he snapped at her on the other end of the receiver. "What do you want, Kurumu?"

The real Tsukune winced, at the time he had not even wondered if he had wounded her with his tone when he answered, but the look of her troubled eyes and fidgeting fingers around her hair told him otherwise. He saw her flinch and look fearful. Despite her facial expression her voice was it's usual cheerful exuberant self. "I-I was wondering if you and Moka were ready. I'll be there in just a bit. I'm really looking forward to it, its been awhile since the three of us have been out together."

"I'll see you in ten minutes." He growled, but not at her, but as the someone else in his room. "Just me, Moka won't be joining us."

CLICK.

Kurumu paced back and forth just outside of their door, curious as to why the yelling had stopped and even more so why her Destined One and Moka were yelling at each other to begin with. The tension between them had been building over the last few weeks and he had been very tight lipped about why. She glanced at her watch every now and then, she thought these ten minutes were going to drag out forever.

The first two buttons of her shirt were deliberately left open. Maybe he would like to have a little something to look at, perhaps to distract him. _At least I'm good for that, _she thought.

She opened a third button.

Looking down at her watch, eight minutes had passed, so she figured it would be safe to knock. Being fashionably late would be okay if the guy was coming to see you, but she was the invitor this time it wouldn't hurt to show she was a little eager.

This was her Destined One after all.

Kurumu exhaled slowly before she tapped her knuckles on the thought of a few funny or even risqué greetings, even mentioning that she had something special to share with him. Thoughts of girlish teasings vanished as soon as the door opened.

The man of her life, her love was staring at her with the scariest eyes had ever seen. (And she's seen Moka in full fury.)They looked absolutely murderous and on the verge of some drastic action.

"T-tsukune? I came a little early. I hope you d-don't mind," Kurumu stuttered. Kurumu never stuttered and right now she could barely breath.

"Have a good time with Tsukune, Kurumu!" Outer Moka called politely out from behind Tsukune as he pushed his way past Kurumu, "I know I'll have one with Gin!"

"What? Gin?" Kurumu had about half a second to comprehend what Moka said before Tsukune grabbed her by the arm and dragged her away. "Tsukune? Why is Gin coming over? I though the three of us were going out tonight?"

He ignored her and kept her moving, he seemed determined to get as far away from his apartment, and Moka, as his feet could get him.

"Tsukune, where are we going?" She fumbled behind him, being led by her arm as one would a dog by its leash.

"Away, Kurumu. Where's your mom's limo?" He glanced around expecting to see a twenty foot stretched limo to appear out of thin air.

"I th-thought we could walk. It's a nice day and I even brought my sneakers." She showed him her cute light blue athletic apparel, but she was, again, quickly jolted in a direction she wasn't prepared for.

"We just need to go," He practically pushed her towards the street. "I want to get away from here as soon as possible. Do you have your mother's card?"

"Ah," She swallowed. "I have my own, Tsukune. It has a 50000 yen limit, so we have to be careful. Mommy's trying to teach me responsibility, as if that'll happen." She hooked her arm with Tsukune's, trying to cheer him up, but that attempt fell on deaf ears.

He wasn't listening to her. Everything in his face read contained fury and it was so far from the Tsukune she knew.

"This way," he all but tripped her with his abrupt change in direction, making her stumble over her own feet and into him.

"Tsukune!" She squeaked, gripping him tight and eventually frowning at his profile after she regained her balance.

He hadn't even looked at her yet.

Kurumu bit her lip uneasily, something was obviously wrong with her Destined One and his mate, Moka. Despite the fact that his focus was on someone else, she decided to help him as best she could.

"Are we taking the subway?" She glanced around passing the signs that directed them downward towards the subterranean transit system.

"I just need to get away and think, Kurumu." He said it so softly, so achingly honest that she couldn't help but want to be near him.

"Okay, Tsukune. Whatever you want." She curled both hands around him arm and pressed herself close.

Taking care of her Destined One was her one and only concern. She would help him to the best of her ability.

No matter what that required.

* * *

The subway ride was done so in silence.

The click, clack of the thick steel wheels going over the rails were an enjoyable break from the silence between the. Around them other people were talking. Kurumu noticed a young man eyeing her open blouse appreciatively. None of it registered with her though, the glum soul standing next to her was all that was real. Lights passed through the windows of the white subway car, glancing off the advertisements posted just above eye level on the walls. Tsukune gripped a pole instead of taking a seat and Kurumu held onto Tsukune, clutching him around the waist with her head against his chest.

She could feel his pain, his heart hammering away at his ribs as if crumbling into something less then a whole of what he was capable of.

When she asked him if he was hungry and reminded him of a little restaurant that she wanted him to join her to try, he simply said, "Not really."

The little walk from the subway up the stairs was just as uneventful. Day was just now starting to turn to night and as romantic as twilight seemed to be, nothing changed from Tsukune's glazed and almost stoic eyes. They eventually made it up to the top level, taking in the fresh air and the lights of the city.

They walked a few blocks, saying nothing and just putting one foot in front of another.

Some voices broke Tsukune's reverie, a young couple were walking arm and arm talking excitedly about their date. Tsukune turned his head to watch as they went past.

"Do you think they're enjoying their selves, Kurumu?" He said suddenly, staring at the clock the couple passed by with the saddest brown eyes she ever saw.

It was at least an hour and a half since they left on their date.

"Who? That couple?"

He didn't answer, just kept walking in sullen silence.

"Tsukune," she touched his cheek, making him look down into her violet eyes filled with worry for him. "What's wrong?"

"I'm tired, Kurumu," He croaked, keeping his watery brown eyes away from hers.

She didn't have to look at his face to see the tears falling down his chin.

"Lets go, Tsukune." She tugged his arm, moving in the direction of a respectable enough looking hotel. "Everything will be better in the morning after a good night's rest."

* * *

Tsukune sat at the edge of the bed while Kurumu stood in front of him, helping him undress. He let her remove his shirt, when he stood and she helped him take off his shoes and then his pants. Each movement was almost robotic, like some automaton devoid of life with each second passing by.

Kurumu was not used to being with a man and having him be so disinterested when she started to undress him.

Kurumu took off her own shoes and then her shirt, eventually removing the flirty short skirt that bounced with her movements and bundled it all in a chair just across the room. A snug bra held her very expansive and lovely breasts restrained until she released them by unsnapping them with an expert twist of her fingers from behind. She kept her simple white panties on, hoping that Tsukune could be interested enough in her to want to take them off himself.

Her breasts had always been her pride; they were always above and beyond average not only in size, firmness, supple texture and softness. To her, just like any woman who found their niche in beauty and attractiveness, she had it made by drawing the wanting stares of men and the jealousy of many of her gender.

It was good to be a succubus, let alone Korono Kurumu.

However, even with her most prized feminine body exposed to the one man who meant everything to her, the bland patch of carpet between his feet seemed more interesting then her.

Kurumu didn't let it hurt her, or tried not to. Since falling in love with him her pride had taken an almost constant beating.

Tsukune felt the bed crease under Kurumu's slight weight, and then shift as she positioned herself behind him, pressing her girls against his back and rubbing small, massaging circles along his shoulder's and neck with her nimble hands.

"You're so tense, Tsukune." She kissed his ear, her voice thick with concern. "Talk to me, please. I'm worried about you."

Her voice seemed to bring him back to reality a little. His right hand came around and stroked the top of her thigh with a soft, self depreciating chuckle. "You're really good to me, Kurumu. Thank you."

Her small arms snaked around his neck, hugging him close and murmuring into his shoulder. "You never need to thank me for that. You are _my_ Destined One. I can never have another man in my life except you. To say that I love you is like saying 'the sun is a light bulb.' I'm not whole without you."

This made him turn around and look at her, for the first time through out the night he had a smile on his face.

"It's hard for you, isn't it, Kurumu?" His voice took on such a gentle, sensitive approach it made her blush. This was the Tsukne she knew and loved.

"What do you mean?" She was a little confused by his question. It didn't make sense for him to ask her something like that.

"To see me with other women. I hurt you when I do that, don't I?"

Now she understood.

The side of her head tucked low between his shoulder blades. "I'm happy to be with you any way I can, Tsukune. If it wasn't for Moka allowing us to be with you, we wouldn't have any time with you at all. I couldn't bare that."

"But it hard, isn't it? To see me with other women?" He asked insistently. He turned his body so he could look at her, but she still tried to hide her face from him.

"No one likes to see the love of their life touch and kiss someone else, Tsukune. Especially when they tried their best to show they would do anything for him. I'm not ungrateful, mind you, it's just...well..."

Tsukune was able to get her to look at him and see the vulnerable, wounded beautiful young lady in front of him.

She was covering her face with her hands, her body trembling with her honest emotions.

"No matter what I do I'm always going to be your second choice, at best. How would that make anyone feel that the person they desire most in their life, for the rest of their life can't feel what's in their heart? Especially when I'm...I'm..."

_...I'm pregnant._

She had wanted to tell him, right then and there. If there was ever a good time to tell Tsukune what she and her mother had found out, it was now. Unfortunately, she was easily distracted by a certain man who could do the most amazing things with so little effort.

"Kurumu-chan," He scooped her up in his arms and kissed her gently, wonderfully.

She sighed in unapologetic bliss at his attention to her.

When he lay himself on top of her, his elbows resting on either side of her shoulders and his face just inches from her own, he said. "I really wish there was more of me to be with each and every one of you. You deserve to have your own man who gives you his heart, his own soul to make you their life just as you make yours to be his. I don't deserve any of you."

"But I don't want a 'him', I only want you." she reached her neck up and kissed him. "Even if I have to have you in parts, Tsukune."

"I've been kind of selfish today, huh?" He looked away with a cowed squint of his eyes.

She rolled her eyes at him, giving him a wide smile. "I'm the one who asked for the date. I guess I'll make an exception and forgive you this time."

He brought himself down to her neck, giving the soft skin by her jaw an intimate lick he KNEW made her tingle.

It did.

"O-okay," Her voice broke under the wet, grainy drag of his tongue, then soft heated suck of his lips on her. "Maybe I'll forgive you for the next time and the time after that?"

Her lover's eyes sparkled and her heart began to race. He was finally really looking at her.

"Oh?" he asked teasingly, knowingly. "And what must I do to win your forgiveness?"

His kissed lowered down her neck, to the glorious valley of her proud breasts.

"Ts-Tsukune..." Her voice came out a sultry moan.

It was the first time, in a very, very long time Tsukune and Kurumu made love without having to use an illusion being someone else.

* * *

Tsukune watched this scene to conclusion with a lighter heart, a little bit of remembered desire and loss for Kurumu then he had well before this whole scenario got twisted out of proportion.

"Do you remember this, Tsukune?" Shade's voice brought him out of his thoughts, then back to his captor.

"Yes," he wasn't upset or even mad at what he was witnessing.

He actually showed relief that Kurumu had not witnessed more then what he thought she had. The Kurumu and him he was watching were in the middle of their romantic tumble and it only heightened his own personal arousal that it was so explicitly detailed and accurate.

"Do you believe that what I'm showing you is of that night and nothing has been altered in it's entirety?"

He nodded.

"Good, because I hope you don't mind if we skip this and move on to where I want to show you. Okay?"

"I'm ready." He said casually, easily.

"Trust me, Tsukune," Shade's voice took on a mildly choked growl. "No, you're not."

When he turned his head to look at her, he never realized how someone so beautiful, could also look so damn scary.

Colors and lights swirled together and flashed quickly before him, showing a scene that looked like nothing more then what they had just saw, possibly just a couple of hours or so after they had just entered.

Kurumu was laying in bed with the covers up to her neck, looking quite disheveled, tired, and even a bit warn. Her hair was a tussled mess, her body positioned awkwardly off to the side and canted. The door to the bathroom was ajar just enough for the steam of Tsukune taking a very hot shower spilled out into the air.

The noisy waterfall of water quieted as he turned it off, then opened the door with a shake of his brown hair and a towel covering himself.

He chuckled when Kurumu barely moved in bed, just sort of tiredly push herself a little bit away from from the light coming out of the bathroom, moaning something incomprehensible.

Tsukune dried himself off, tossing the towel on the bathroom counter and started to get dressed. Eventually, he sat himself down next to her, stroking her hair to wake her up.

She flinched when his fingers touched her.

"It's okay, Kurumu-chan, it's me. Wake up, sleepy head."

She uncovered her face a little, looking up at him dazedly before she focused on his smiling face and remembered happy dark brown eyes. "Hey."

"Hi," he watched her slowly settle into a sitting position against the head board. Both of her small hands pulled the sheets and blanket of the bed up to her neck, as if modesty was a concern.

"You're dressed," She noticed with blinky eyes taking in the whole of him and then to the bathroom door that the large mirror could be seen stained with condensation.

"Yeah. Kurumu," He took on of her hands into his, giving it a gentle sqeeze, "I need to go. There's something I need to take care of with Moka. I'm going to have to cut this date short. I'm sorry."

He expected to see Kurumu hurt, even mildly pout or whine about having their time cut so abruptly and so callously after such a romantic time together, but it startled him a little when she pulled her hand out of his, wincing as if his touch stung her a bit.

"That's a good idea, Tsukune. I hope whatever you and Moka talk about makes you feel better. Tell her I said hi." Her voice came out thicker, a little warbled compared to the cheery, womanly lilt that she normally carried.

Tsukune's eyes wondered over her neutral expression and studied her for a bit. Something about her seemed...off.

"Are you okay, Kurumu-chan? You seem...different."

Kurumu gave him a big smile, "Of course I'm okay! Why would you ask that? I'm fine!"

He shook himself out of his curiosity and nodded. "If you say so, Kurumu-chan. I promise to call you later and make up for this night being cut off so short, okay?"

She nodded.

He kissed her forehead and was about to walk out the door when she called out to him.

"Tsukune."

"Yes, Kurumu-chan?" He was putting on his coat with his hand on the door knob.

"Do you hate us monsters? Do you hate ever being with Mizore, Moka, Ruby, Yukari and...me? Do you ever wish you never met us and just stayed in the human world and never saw us?" Her voice was pained, like something she just swallowed was foul and tried to talk over the disgusting flavor.

"What are you talking about, Kurumu?" He walked himself over to her, sitting himself down as close as he could to her. "My life is much more exciting and interesting because of all of you. I never would have thought I could enjoy so much if it wasn't for any of you as individuals or as a group. My life is MORE because of you all. I wouldn't go back in time to miss it. I love all of you and it would kill me if I didn't have you all with me. I need you."

"Really?" She looked at him with her large violet eyes, hopeful that what he said was true.

"Of course, Kurumu-chan. Why would you say that?" He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, feeling her tremble like a leaf in the wind.

"Because we hurt you so many times, Tsukune," She muffled a short cry, her shoulders bending her head low. "Why would you want to come to a school with a whole bunch of creatures who would kill you on sight, or worse, pull you into our weird customs that would keep you away from your family or have you treat us differently then you would your own kind. I mean, why would a human want to deal with us dumb monsters if they could be free to be with their own people?"

"You're not dumb," he kissed her, "you are all unique and your customs make you interesting and beautiful. I don't regret anything."

"Nothing?" She quietly mumbled, looking a bit sad he had said that.

"Well, there is one thing." He exhaled softly, but nodding.

"That is?" She held her breath, hoping above hope she knew what he was going to say.

"I wish I was brave enough to let each one of you go to find your own true mates a long time ago so you wouldn't have to share your time with just plain ole me."

"Oh," She looked highly disappointed.

"But, since I wasn't such a brave guy and such a coward, now I have to do my best to make sure everyone is happy in any way possible. I mean, how awful is it to enjoy the company of some of the most beautiful woman the world has ever seen and know they all love me? What a wimp, huh?" He tried to sound cheerful, but it didn't take to Kurumu a bit.

"Okay, Tsukune." She nodded weakly.

He understood that his attempt to make her feel better was failing and he did wish to stay till she was well, but he knew that if he didn't go now he wouldn't be able to get what was on his mind off his chest and let Moka know how he felt.

It had to be now.

"I'm sorry, Kurumu-chan, but I have to go." He kissed her cheek and frowned a little when she flinched at him.

"Are you okay, Kurumu?" he noticed she looked to be in pain when he touched her cheek with his lip.

"You...you hurt me a little when we were making love, Tsukune." She put her hand to her cheek. "I bit the inside of my mouth a little when you got a little rough."

He blinked at her as if she just said he liked to kick babies.

"Oh my gosh, are you okay?" He sat closer to her, trying to look inside her mouth to see if it was bad

She shoo'd him away with a flick of her fingers.

"I'll be fine, really." She seemed to smile a bit at his worry for her. "Go, your mate needs you."

"Are you sure?" He frowned. It was obvious he was worried for her.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Just be more gentle with me, okay? I'm a girl. You're supposed to treat us gently and carefully."

His brows pinch a little and nodded, serious and meaningful. "I will, Kurumu-chan. I'm sorry I hurt you."

Small pouty lips trembled at his apology, but nodded. It was a small moment before she was able to say,"It's okay, Tsukune. I forgive you. Now go."

Tsukune nodded. He strolled out the door and carefully closed it with a click.

* * *

Tsukune watched himself leave the room and waited to see if there was anything else going to happen. Kurumu just sat on the bed and watched where the door her Destined One left for a long time without doing anything.

"Well," He huffed impatiently. "This is it?"

"Just," Shade hissed at him like promised death. "wait."

Shaking his head in frustration, he did just that...and blinked at what he saw.

With a shuddered sigh, Kurumu murmured a soft word.

"Dispel."

With that two syllable word, the whole room quavered as if changing from one reality to the next, then reset itself to what it really was.

The scene from a nightmare.

Around the room there signs of a very violent act taken place. A chair was crushed to pieces, parts of a lamp illuminated the floor at bent angles from it's shattered foundation. A large gaping impression on the wall the size of a small body was covered with smears of blood and large gouges on the side the size of fingers. The mirror that used to be hung by the small hall before the door was now in fractured pieces, barely held together by a will of it's own.

Kurumu, on the other hand, looked even worse then the room.

"Dear Kami..." Tsukune choked out when Kurumu's head turned towards him at a vantage point that he had missed before.

He barely recognized her. The whole left side of her face was swollen to distorted proportions. Her left eye was closed and covered in ugly red swollen skin. Her lip was cut in several places where she had obviously been smashed against something or something smashed into her.

Ugly red criss cross marks traveled around her neck where someone had obviously been choking her.

Kurumu did not make a sound other then the snuffling breath she was trying to make out of one nostril that had not been shut closed from the savage abuse she had received, but she did start to tremble when she looked down at the sheets covering her from her waist.

"D-dispel." She croaked again, a bit of blood and saliva falling from her numb lips as she spoke the word.

The light and color surrounding the front of the blanket covering her shimmered and then changed into...

"Wh-what the," Tsukune thought he was going to throw up. "Oh, Kami," He turned to Shade and yelled at her. "What the fuck happened to Kurumu!"

She ignored him, and just kept her eyes on the illusion.

When he reset his gaze, he was sure he was going to be sick. What had been some off tan colored sheets and blankets, the standard kind found in most hotels, now where some dark crimson stain that went all the way from her waist down to her legs.

She pulled the blanket down past her knees and gurgled something that sounded like a dry heave when she saw not only the growing size of blood coming from between her legs, but the chunks of flesh and bits of 'something' that she couldn't identify.

Flapping her hands in manical worry, she jumped out of bed and let out a soul wrenching cry as her feet touched the floor.

"Kurumu-chan!" Tsukune dashed past Shade, to try and embrace the young succubus, but he went right through her.

"Ow...ow..." She limped with one arm hanging limply at her side, shuffling from the bed, leaving a single foot print, then one that dragged off to the side as if her limb was lame.

"What...what happened," Tsukune looked at the illusion up and down as if it was some kind of horrible and ugly joke. "This isn't real! It can't-"

"Can't it?" Shade snapped, her eyes still locked onto her niece.

He couldn't say anything more, but just watch as Kurumu held herself with one arm around her naked waist with her injured arm and reached for the cell phone she left on a cabinet. Shuffling into the bathroom, leaving a thick dribble of blood and who knew what other fluids trickle down from between her legs. When she finally made it into the shower, she fell to the floor and hit 'send' on her phone.

"Hello!" A chipper and lusty womanly voice answer the cell phone. "The amazing and gorgeous Kurono Aghea here! How is my equally lovely daughter and her Destined one doing?"

"Mom-mommy," Kurumu's voice broke into huffed whimpers. "Mommy..."

"Mumu-chan?" An obvious motherly instinct kicked in, worry and concern filled the voice on the other line. "What's wrong? What happened, baby? Are you okay? Is Tsukune okay?"

"Mommy...he hurt me," She sobbed now, deep, heaving sobs that made her wail into almost nonsensical sounds. With her bad arm limp, she squished the cell phone between her shoulder and her ear and with her good arm she reached up and turned on the shower with the cold first and then the warm.

"I'm bleeding...from...there, mommy. I think something's wrong and...and I don't know what to do! I'm scared, mommy! It hurts!"

The water washed the streaks of drying blood from the corners of her mouth to the smashed nostrils, then eventually down the drying ribbons that caked the inside to the front of her thighs and down her knees.

"I'll be right over, Mumu-chan. Where are you?"

Kurumu gave her the name of the hotel and its address and Kurumu answered quickly. "I'll bring over some spare clothes. Do you want me to call any of your friends on the way over?"

"No!" She snuffled, whimpering and mewling in abject pain. "don't tell anyone! It wasn't his fault! It...it...just don't tell anyone, mommy...don't tell...anyone!"

"Okay, baby. Okay. I'm on my way."

"Mommy..."

"Yes, baby?"

"I think something bad happened." She held onto her stomach, her lips wide and her face distorted with silent sobs she could not fully express.

"Do you want me to get a doctor?"

Kurumu shook her head, unable to express how she knew it was to late to worry, but she wanted to be with her mom. "Just come get me. Please?"

"I'm on my way."

The phone died and fell into the growing pool of water, destroying it.

Kurumu sobbed with both hands covering her stomach, the water that cascaded over her turned from clear to different streams of diluted red as it trailed into the chrome drain.

"It hurts...it hurts..."

She whimpered in the fetal position, holding herself and crying like a little girl who had lost everything, absolutely everything.

The illusion faded with Tsukune on his knees watching Kurumu crying into her phone, wailing and desperately trying to hold together what was obviously falling apart.

Tsukine stood here staring blankly into empty space. "What...what happened to Kurumu-chan...who did that to-"

"Who?" Shade's voice was quiet, friendly, even a bit sweet as she directed it towards him, "Who do you think? What you saw was the reality of her situation when you left." She gestured casually. "No one broke in, no one suddenly attacked her. What she suffered she suffered at the hands of someone she trusted and loved above all others. Someone very dear to her, Tsukune, hurting her beyond anything you could imagine." She paused and her mismatched eyes hardened. "_You _did that to her."

"I...I NEVER would have-"

"YOU DID!" She screamed with her fists at her side, her hair flaring high over her head and her eyes blazing at him, causing him to step back and shut his mouth. "Tell me it's a lie, Tsukune. I mean, you DO remember, don't you? You remember what happened between you and her that night? From the moment you made love to Kurumu to the time you left?'

"Of course I..." he stopped himself.

He really didn't.

"Now, of course, you _do_ remember, right? I mean, *I* would make this all up because that's what us succubi do. We lie, we cheat, we steal men for our own uses and devices. We hurt people we love and do horrible things to those we don't. Now, I, of course, did unspeakable, despicable, unimaginable things to your lovely, pink haired wife, didn't I? I know I have a just punishment coming my way, Tsukune. Don't I? Imean to hear you and Moka go on about it I certainly deserve to die for my offense. So I'll accept whatever consequences come my way. However, you..." She spoke with an unholy timber that made her whole body quake, her eyes glisten with rare tears. "You gave her the most precious gift anyone ever could, and then you took it away from her WITHOUT EVEN BOTHERING TO NOTICE!"

Tsukune stood there silent and unmoving. He couldn't even bring himself to say anything in his own defense.

"Now please tell me again how my fingers inside your pretty bride is so unforgivable. Tell me again how you and Moka are the victims here and how Kurumu is _trash_ that you never want to see again. PLEASE! I WANT to hear you tell me that! Tell me again about poor little you and poor Moka and how you two have SUFFERED!"

Tsukune just stared at her and knew for the first time without a doubt, he had absolutely no answer to the crimes he wasn't even sure he committed.


	21. Ch21 The Threat and Dinner

AN: This is where I got the idea for Get What You Wanted. It's a completely separate story with a different direction, history, and eventual ending, but I thought it would make one HELL of a side story. Enjoy!

Your Mistress.

The Bet Ch 21

Even in death, her Tsukune didn't look at peace.

His face still held that disgustedly, wretched scowl as Moka held him close to her breast, rocking him back and forth with a feeling of ripping loss she could never imagine having, especially before she met him all those years ago at the Academy. She hadn't deserved that look, had she? Things had been worked out between him for so long now, hadn't they? Even back when they had _that_ fight.

What had happened exactly?

There were so many things going on in her head, in her soul to try and piece together, but all she could do is 'feel' Tsukune's limp cold body in her hands and just want him back. She _NEEDED_ him back so badly. What was her life, her eternity without him? What was her purpose to have a husband, a mate, and lose him shortly after something so painful as him hating her like that? And about what?

Her _pride_.

She shook her silver hair out of her face, pinching her slitted red eyes closed or those vile, weak tears would come out before she could pull them back.

Yes, they had been fighting and the last fight had been horrible. She had said some things that she had not meant, but she had for a reason! Tsukune was being extremely stubborn and she was not about to back down, be it he was her husband, mate, her love, her soul...

She couldn't!

If she did, it meant...it meant...she had to know _her_ place with him.

As her equal.

That scared her to no end. It was the last symbolic line to cross for her to see him as her true, true mate. Moka hadn't thought there were anymore lines left to cross after he was accepted by her father, but when the reality of bearing children came to play, she found that line of her and him sharing the blood of their families into their children, she had been viciously and adamantly scared of what she had been exposed to as a child. She saw it, her precious babies, creatures that would grow in her womb and cherished being treated like she had.

It would not happen! She would tear down mountains with her hands, call down the heavens and hell to those who would dare do to them what they had done to her!

But first, she had to make sure Tsukune and her were on the same mindset.

No human influence till they were at least at Youkai because of one solid fact: The children could not defend themselves in a human society like they could at the Youkai academy.

With that notion and thought in hand, she had brought up her side of the story to Tsukune, but her mate that understood her, loved her, cherished above any and almost all things looked at her as if she had said something silly. It probably didn't help that as soon as he told her, as he held her, that everything would be fine and he would make sure that everything that happened to her as a child would probably not be as bad as it was with her, she had been utterly livid that he could accept such treatment so casually and not be afraid for their very hearts like she was.

She _snapped_.

Even as Outer Moka, she had been so unequivocally scared that she closed her eyes and made him promise her, right then and there, that their babies would _not_ be exposed to human schools, human people, human family..._anything_ until after they had grown up around a monster's environment first and were able to defend themselves accordingly.

He still told her no.

Right then and there, Outer Moka snapped off her Rosario and used Inner Moka to show Tsukune how serious she was about this.

Tsukune didn't know he had literally walked into a one sided brawl he was completely taken off guard and sucker punched with. Inner Moka snarled, actually _snarled_ at him that there was no way she would allow him to let their children suffer the cruel pettiness, the bias discrimination of their children to people who should be beaten to a pulp for their lack of sensitivity, for their snobbish brow beating of someone who wanted to be like them so badly, that she actually had to curb herself and appear weaker just to be accepted.

What kind of life was that?

No, it would not happen. It couldn't happen! She forbid it!

After that fight, though, Kurumu had called because she had some news to share with Tsukune and her. She missed her friend and her outlandish ways with her Tsukune, but right now was not the time to put up with her face diving her beloved man into her breasts, crying at the top of her lungs how much her Destined One needed her when there were so many important things to talk about.

As much as she hated to admit it, when the lines in dirt were drawn, she knew she had used shock to purposely get Tsukune to change his mind to look at things at her point of view and agree to them. She had never considered he would stick his heels in the ground and out right refused. Moka had never had to dig herself further and further into a hole that she couldn't get herself out of.

Her pride wouldn't allow it.

So when the night of her and her Tsukune had come to an impasse, she was even surprised at herself when the words, "If you won't allow my children to be raised outside of a human's influence, then I'll have someone else give me children I can raise how I like and without you."

It just seemed like the right thing to say to hurt him enough to just say, 'Okay, Moka. You win.'

He had looked at her with such indignant horror that she was sure the conversation was over, however it had the reaction she should have guessed now that she had time to think it over. Especially when she did the one thing that sounded outright childish and foolish in her mind now that things have been recovered from that time.

She had meant to hurt him by wounding the idea of not raising children, but she had not considered that by using that threat, she was throwing so many emotional, mental, and physiological bombs at him she had really set herself in deep at the verbal overkill.

What had started off as something considered to be relatively mild in it's infancy, became a gluttonous pride filled deluge that she could not hold back without saying she was wrong and would forfeit her standing on her position.

The daughter to Akashiya just wouldn't!

So she kept herself to her word and continued to do what she threatened to do and with the first person that came to mind.

Morioka Ginei.

It was the only name should think of that was close to them in friendship and was perverse enough to put physical and bodily wants before their friendship. Inner Moka called him on her cell phone, in front of Tsukune with Kurumu on her way to take them out to dinner to share some exciting news. As sure as the sun would right that morning, Moka could see the shock and disbelief in her mate's face as she talked politely and suggestively to Gin, giving every hint and hope that there was more then dinner in mind. Then she pulled an ultimate trump card that her Tsukune had no defense against: he had the pleasure of three other woman to satisfy his carnal needs so why shouldn't she have at least one more?

What was even worse was that Gin would accept her invitation and follow through!

Where had this idea of hers come from? Why had it taken this turn? Why wasn't Tsukune ready to throttle her for even bringing it up? Why had he not brought up the fact that it was _her_ who had pushed the idea for him to share the beds of their friends and hers alone?

Sadly, he looked at her with those forest creature wide wounded eyes, unable to stop her from stabbing him over and over again with her verbally piercing promises if he didn't change his mind. She couldn't stop! It just came so easy for her, to be this cruel and uncaring, offering no yield in her ability to corkscrew into his soul and bleed him into an emotional lifeless husk.

But he still told her no.

The last straw had been to call Gin in front of him, make him see that she was serious if he didn't change his mind. That had been the worst for her, because Kurumu had shown up to retrieve them for their date, but she left with only him. They went who knows where to suffer her own prideful repercussions.

There was nothing to stop her from keeping her word to herself when it came time to follow through. Everything was happening so fast and Tsukune wasn't there to stop her! How did it go again? That night, what was she doing? Where was Tsukune with Kurumu when there was so much that needed to be unsaid and smoothed over? She couldn't let things get this far, so badly, and so quickly chaotic, but why couldn't she stop herself from putting make up on as she looked in the mirror to see how beautiful she looked to enjoy a date with another man!

How did that night go...

* * *

Moka was standing in front of her bedroom mirror looking at herself.

One finger smoothed the cherry red lipstick over her lips evenly, blotted, and followed by a spritz of the perfume Tsukune liked so much. Eyeshadow, hair, dress, the slinky black dress that always made Tsukune look at her hungrily, sheer black stockings and even blacker heels. Yes, everything was perfect and she looked undeniable. This is exactly what she would do for herself when she prepared herself for a night with her love before a date and it always ended the same way. Her Tsukune would be only too eager to almost rip it off of her and begin one of their delicious all night love making sessions.

Now she was wearing it for another man.

She felt nervous, scared and a little bit sick to her stomach.

_Stupid Tsukune! Why are you making me do this? _

He was usually so thoughtful and understanding! Why couldn't he see that they were both vampires now? Their children would be vampires. What possible sense did it make to have them raised as humans? She knew all too well the pain of being the outsider surrounded by those who would never acknowledge what you were. Those times had been the most painful and lonely of her whole life. She was **not **going to let her children suffer that!

She winced a bit remembering her other side's harsh words to him, but harsh or not it was what she felt and Tsukune was being insensitive and unyielding. That was the _only _reason she was doing this. Truthfully, she had no desire at all for any other man but him. His love, his touch, his affection satisfied her in every possible way a woman could want a man to. The young Akashiya Moka desired no other man but her Tsukune. Her other self had brought up the fact he was intimate with others just as a means of pressuring him into agreeing to give up his silly notions. Her inner self had fully expected that just the threat of her taking other lovers would be enough. When Tsukune had not caved in though she had been forced to act.

Her pride would not allow her to simply back down when she had to compete her pride against Tsukune's.

The door bell chimed and she started, nearly falling over herself as if the sound was a death toll.

Her _date_ was here.

She rubbed her hands together nervously as she went to answer the door, deliberately putting on an inviting smile on her face and forced herself to look eager as she opened he door.

There he was, Gin, standing there in a black silk shirt that had three buttons open, looking suave and devastatingly sexy. _His _smile didn't have to look forced. In his hands he held not only a bottle of red wine but a bouquet of pink roses. His eyes immediately looked her up and down, lingering on her breasts with unhidden desire.

A wolfish smile grew in appreciation at her choice of attire.

Her instinct was to cover up and yell at him for being a pervert, however she forced herself to motion for him to enter. This was what she had called him for, wasn't it?

"Welcome Gin. Won't you please come in? I have dinner ready."

"Thank you for calling me, Moka," he told her as he crossed the threshold of her and Tsukune's home.

She took the bundle of roses thankfully enough when he handed them to her, but held onto the wine. "It took a lot longer than I expected but I'm very glad you finally came around."

"Came around?" She asked worriedly.

He leaned in close, his smoldering brown eyes looking at her oh so hungrily. He smelled nice and she knew he was close enough to her to take in the perfume her boyfriend, her mate, her love had found so enticing.

"You finally realizing I was a much better match for a beauty like you. Did you know Moka-chan, pink roses symbolize the beginning of a new romance?"

She blushed furiously and stepped back to put some distance between them. "Ah, I… I'll get some water for these!" She fled into the kitchen with as much dignity and poise as she could muster without seeming like she was trying to.

**_Stand your ground, you weakling! This is what we promised to Tsukune. If he won't listen to us, then it is best we have the stomach to do as we said we would._** However, Inner Moka's voice sounded shallow when Gin's hands could be felt with just his eyes.

_This isn't good! Not good at all! _Moka thought back, panicked. Gin was taking advantage of the whole scenario and not holding any stops to use it in his favor. Yet she was trapped by her pride, by her threats, but to do this now and go this far? After the show she'd put on for Tsukune there was no way she could just ask him to leave. As she put the roses into a vase and filled it with water. Setting it as a centerpiece for the table, she tried desperately to come up with a way to handle this so that it could just be a date to put pressure on Tsukune, but keep her newspaper sempai at arms distance.

When she came away from the table, she found Gin seated on the couch after taking a couple glasses from the dinner table. He carefully poured out some wine, filling them about half full and palming both between his large fingers. Seeing her fidgeting with the roses, he patted the spot beside him for to sit.

"The dinner smells wonderful Moka, it's been awhile since a girl has made me a candle lit meal." Gin offered a deep inhale of the aromas coming off the table with a hearty exhale, but he turned his attention from the table to the long length of pink tresses spilling from her head down the svelte lines of her back to her gorgeous globes of her ass.

"How about we have a little quiet conversation first?" He gave her a wolfish grin that was handsome and darkly intimate. She was sure put to use on any girl that was even barely interested or semi willing it would have made their hearts thump like crazy, but it only made her want to run. Once more though, her pride wouldn't allow it.

Swallowing and wondering what she was going to do she sat down on the couch, just a bit further away from him then where he patted.

"This is how it should have always been Moka-chan," he spoke in a low intimate voice, his eyes looking back into the past with remembered melancholy. Catching her jade green eyes with his striking brown one's, he braved letting one finger glide over the side of her bare arms. "Tsukune was _never_ worthy of you. I have desired you from the first moment I ever saw you."

"Ah, well that's very nice Gin. It would mean more if that weren't true of every pretty girl you've ever laid eyes on." She flinched away, but it didn't deter him at all.

"Moka, you know you were always special to me. I didn't treat you like just another girl." He took a long slow sip of wine, licking his lips when he put the glass down from between them to see her.

"That's true," she admitted, fidgeting with the glass cradled in both of her hands, swirling the drink uncomfortably. "When I told you I wasn't interested you tried to trick me by framing Tsukune. If I remember correctly, after that you tried to attack me and force me to be your woman."

He laughed, not embarrassed in the slightest. If anything, he found the whole act amusing as if to give him credit for his place as a sexual predator.

"Okay, I admit I might have went a little overboard when we first met."

"A _little_?" She couldn't believe he took his position of that time in their history so casually.

"But it was only because of your incredible beauty, your bountiful feminine charm, that I could only go to those extremes. Can you blame any man who sees you to want you so hungrily? I always wanted you to be mine, and now," He placed a hand on her knee and slid his hand up her thigh, "you finally are."

She stopped his hand with her own to prevent him going any further.

"Gin, I think you've got the wrong idea about what's going on," she said quickly, trying to avoid how he was shifting his weight closer to her.

"Oh I think I understand things just fine," he murmured huskily, leaning his taller frame over her's, tilting in a way that promised in the next few seconds a kiss was inevitable if she didn't put a stop to it. "You calling me out of the blue. The candles, that dress, your perfume, those _heels_," he growled with barely checked restraint, "It's obvious; you've realized being Tsukune was always a mistake and that I am the one you really want, that you _need_ to fulfill you in ways he never could."

"No, that's not what's going on, Gin." She told him nervously, edging as far away from him as possible. "Tsukune is my mate, and we have most definitely **not **broken up, so I am not asking you to be my boyfriend!"

Gin blinked in sudden obvious confusion, stopping himself. "Then why did you call me over?"

"Well, you see, we had a fight," she admitted uncomfortably, but mentioning about children would definitely put Gin off. She knew that the mere word would make her main threat to Tsukune run for the hills at the mention of parenting and little babies being raised a certain way, so another believable fixation came to mind that she was sure Gin would not have a problem comprehending. "I told him that I didn't think it very fair that he got to enjoy the services of a harem while he expected me to be faithful to him. I also told him that I had the right to have lovers too and that I could take you if I wanted."

"Oh, now I get it," he said momentarily deflated, but his mood was still very positive and he looked anything but regretful. "So you only want me as a lover and not to be your man." He sighed in mock disappointment. "Well, it's going to be tough being used just for my body, but I guess I can settle for that if it means I finally get to be with you." He crossed the distance to her and tried to kiss her.

"Ah," She pushed him away and jumped to her feet. Whatever her prideful words were before hand, her body and heart were definitely having a second change of heart and disposition. It was easier to say she was going to do one thing and a completely different thing to have the conviction to complete it.

"What?" He asked her looking even more confused, gathering himself to his feet and following her. "Didn't you just say you wanted to take me as your lover?"

She blushed and began to fidget. She had hadn't she?

He slowly approached her with his charming smile and relaxed voice, soothing her back from the edginess he could see starting to tremble in her eyes and hands. "It's okay Moka-chan," he told her easily, casually. "There's no need to be nervous or embarrassed about this. You're not leaving Tsukune and you just want me on the side. I'm all right with that." He chuckled disarmingly, as if it was a great strain on himself that he was willing to sacrifice for her. "I can be discreet and I won't cause you any problems. We can meet up whenever you like, wherever you like, and I promise you'll enjoy every second we spend together."

The taller man in her home, the house of her mate where memories were created night after night and securities were built and enjoyed, was now well within her personal space, mesmerizing her with his voice, lulling her with the calming gestures of his hands and thoughtful look in his eyes. His pheromones were coming off him in waves and, to her surprise, it wasn't an unpleasant thing.

She actually found it somewhat desirable and, dare she admit, inviting in a way then her mate's mannerisms and scent.

_Would it be so bad to have a man like Gin every now and then? _She thought to herself suddenly, taking her own threat to heart with a seriousness she had not considered till now. If anything, Gin was as handsome a man as they came with a beguiling charm that she, until now never considered, but wouldn't mind enjoying from time to time.

If she was going to make her promise to Tsukune work, she _HAD_ to at least make it as believable as possible she would go through with it.

_He's not really forcing me and he _is_ being gentle_, she forced the thought through her guard, trying to get herself mentally and emotionally prepared for more nights to come should Tsukune need more of a realization of how close he was to making her complete her promise.

_**Every good weapon needs to be tested before it can be brandished. What we are doing now is nothing more then preparing for the time we actually have to use it against our mate should the need arise.**_ Her inner self voiced in affirmation.

"You're right; if Tsukune gets to be with Kurumu, Mizore and the others it's only fair that you get to have a little something extra too." Gin's voiced lowered to a hauntingly low timbre, easing his own masculine voice over her musically. He reached out and grazed his hands over the fabric at her hips, pulling her close, so close so slowly that it felt more comfortable then she ever thought she would allow herself to be with another man, especially one who had attacked her so many years ago.

Gin definitely had a way around a woman that made it hard for her to say no.

_If Tsukune has everyone else, who do I have? Can't I have some of the same when he is enjoying the bodies of other women?_

Outer Moka could feel her inner self agreeing to her own introspective thoughts._  
_

"Dinner looks wonderful, Moka-chan, and I'm sure it would have been excellent, however I think there is something else I'd rather sink my teeth into that I have been absolutely famished for as long as I've had the honor of being in your presence." Gin lowered his chin to her's and kissed her.

At first, she flinched backwards, pulling herself away from him, but the wall behind her and his relenting movement forward caught her lips open to his in mid protest. That her mouth was parted only encouraged his kiss to slid his lips over hers, even being so bold to dart his tongue over the velvety soft candy flavor of hers.

A surprised gasp was swallowed by his moan, blurring the lines of her defense that she shouldn't be kissing another man, but there she was with his tongue in her mouth. What made it worse, was the reality that she was, indeed, enjoying it.

Gin had an undeniable manipulation when it came to kissing and then there was the way his right hand was cupping her fine' bottom, his left was grazing over the front of her blouse, enticing her nipples to react to him.

His heat was doing weird things to her's, pulling taut lingering tickles that was building in her womb and loins. His touch was so much different then Tsukune's; it was so forceful, so dominating, so uncommonly knowing what he could do to her.

_Maybe it won't be so hard to fulfill my threat to Tsukune after all_, she thought to her inner self, feeling another stir of agreements from her silver haired side, when she found herself for the briefest moments, for the smallest span of a heart beat kissing Gin back and allowing herself to settle into the comfort of her arguing words to her mate. Tsukune was enjoying things like this as well and often, so it would well be within her rights to know what it felt to enjoy kisses like this, touches like this from another man.

...however...

Her mate didn't want to and she had pushed that issue onto him without really asking him. Her Tsukune adamantly told her that he would forsake all women for her, so why wasn't she doing the same thing at this moment?

Pride or no pride, that thought alone was very, very sobering.

_Tsukune would hate me if I did anything more!_

"LET GO OF ME!" She screamed and pushed him away with all her strength. Gin stumbled gracelessly, falling back onto the couch with a loud thump that scraped the feet of the couch over the wooden flooring noisily. Moka took several steps away from him and placed a hand menacingly on her rosario. "Don't do that again! If you try anything, I swear I'll release my inner self and let her beat you to a pulp!"

"Hey! What's with _that_ attitude?" Gin collected himself and snapped at her angrily. It was one thing to deny him and have him try to earn more of her favor, but this vicious one eighty was highly uncalled for. "Don't act like I suddenly came here to attack you! You _invited_ me, remember? And before you get mad at me about being forward, look at how you're dressed! If that's not a 'fuck me' dress then I've never seen one! Also, don't you _dare_ say you weren't enjoying that kiss as much as I was, because I didn't force your tongue into my mouth!"

She looked embarrassed, because he was so right in all of his accusations. It still did not take her hand from her rosario.

Looking back at the situation, she realized she wasn't grasping her rosario to keep Gin away from her, but due to the fact she was too scared to deny him in the skin she was in now. As her outer self, she was not as thick skinned or insensitive enough to push away a man she was just inviting.

Her humiliation was all but complete. She had shown herself her place and she was lacking.

"Gin, I am very sorry if I gave you the wrong impression. The fact is I wanted to have dinner with you and talk. I _only _wanted to talk."

Back stepping like this was utterly devestating to her Inner self's pride, but she couldn't continue on without knowingly destroying what was between her and Tsukune. Yes, she still wanted to hold her ground, but not like this.

There had to be another way.

"That's not what you said just two seconds ago! Hell, that wasn't even what we were doing or what you were enjoying! You can't fake those noises you were making so don't get fucking righteous with me now that you might be feeling some guilt." He told her accusingly, snapping off his impatience and revealing his own indignation of her that demanded she make amends.

"I'm sorry," she repeated softly, but it was a hollow apology that lead him to believe that he was just a game piece and nothing more.

He stared at her a moment, events ticking off in his mind, eventually understanding dawned in his eyes. "Oh _now _I get it. This has nothing to do with me at all, does it? You're just flirting with me to try and make Tsukune jealous aren't you?" He sounded disgusted, although he had used the same tactics for other women, it was a completely different tale when they were used on him. "Well thanks for trying to use me, but I think I'll be going."

He rounded away from her and made a beeline for the door.

"Gin wait! I'm really sorry I misled you. Tsukune and I had an awful fight and things just sort of got out of hand. Before I knew it I'd called you and I… well I didn't know what to do after that." As much of a strong front she had prepared to overwhelm Tsukune, being faced with the reality and the actions of her own promises had proven she was the weaker of the two and that the consequences were definitely more then what she was ready for.

"Do me a favor Moka? The next time you try and make a vampire jealous and angry _don't _call me. I even had a date with twins lined up for tonight. Twins!" He had a hand on the doorknob and by his own desire to help his friends and divert his own lusts was a powerful act of discipline and self sacrifice on his part.

His ego had taken one hell of a beating and now he was expected to just let it go?

"Please, Gin." Outer Moka let go of her rosario and held her hands up like he had just not so long ago, disarming his desire to flee and just listen. "I… I have dinner made though and I really would like you to stay so we could talk. As _friends_. Please? I really need to talk to someone right now and I don't want to go to any of the girls. I made a mistake and I'm sorry for hurting you, but, please, I really don't want anyone else to know this. I still need someone who isn't sleeping with my mate who will take me seriously."

He looked at her, his decision to go and stay on the cusp of going this way or that.

Finally he nodded with an aggravated growl, unable to turn away from those soulful green eyes that had captivated him and had been his very few female friend that he couldn't deny, especially in this state. "Okay, but seriously you owe me big time for this." He then muttered under his breath, stomping over to a chair and pulling it for Moka to sit with a stilted gesture of his hand. "I wonder if Lisa and Misa would meet with me tomorrow."

Plates were filled and glasses brought back to the table and topped off.

When he wasn't being a rutting, horny wolf in man's clothing, Gin was a surprisingly good listener.

* * *

Then they talked, even going as far as her admitting her desires to raise children as she wanted and denying Tsukune's children the heritage he was brought up with. Gin told her flat out that if she didn't want to have children around human's or see them raised as her mate was, why didn't she just take her highschool sweetheart as a lover and find someone else when she was through playing games and get serious with her life?

It wouldn't do for Gin to have the moral high ground when he was just above instincts that didn't involve rutting every available or unavailable female in sight.

When he left, she gave him a kiss on the cheek as a thanks for listening and being so patient with her.

She really was sorry for leading him on, but at the same time she had to admit everything was her fault and that it was her own undoing that made her plans blow up in her face when reality struck home. An even harder reality was when night became morning and her Tsukune had not returned from his date with Kurumu. She had no delusions that they were probably somewhere, making comforting love to help his wounded ego that she had purposely damaged. As much as she said it would be okay, it was not what she had in mind when she pushed her Tsukune away only to receive the comfort of another woman, especially one as willing as Kurono Kurumu.

There were things that the succubus was more then willing to compensate to Tsukune as a partner or 'Destined One' that Inner and Outer Moka would have trouble keeping up with should he decide to take her offers seriously.

"Where is he?" she worried her fingers together, eventually deciding to change out of her dress into pajamas and start putting dishes and uneaten food away for later. They had a lot to talk about and it was hard to do when the man that meant the most to her was away thinking that she was doing things that she was not...or almost did, but didn't.

He had to know that the threat wasn't carried out...but did he have to know how close it almost was?

Settling herself on the couch by the door, Moka tied her hair up into a pony tail, then pulled a blanket over herself and settled against a pillow on the arm of the furniture. As much as she knew Kurumu would do anything and everything well within her ability to nurture him back from the fight they had, she wanted to be sure that she was the first thing he saw without Gin when he walked in.

Now, all she had to do was explain that nothing happened and they could still work things out. That something almost and could have happened was an admission she was not too eager to divulge, but she hoped above hope that was a matter that could be avoided and he just come back to her and apologize.

It was possible after all, wasn't it?


	22. Ch 22 Awakening

AN: I'm not very sorry for the delay on this chapter. Get What You Wanted has consumed me. I really love where it's going and I'm even thinking about writing an original story about it. Either way, enough delay for now.

Ch 22 The Bet

Moka knew the answer.

Her thoughts of that night and when Tsukune came back to her had been resolved, but not without some more heated exchanges. Tsukune had been absolutely livid. Moka had never seen her mate so furious at her, especially after the night they had argued about how to raise their children the first time. Eventually, after a lot of things said and, through love and eventual bending of pride and compromising, they were back together.

Closing her eyes, she looked up into the weird purple sky and wondered what to do. No matter how strong she was, the weight of her beloved's deceased body was weighing on her with a suffocating guilt.

Where does she begin to take the first step? Does she start with her friends? Call her family and explain the details of her new widow status? How does she explain to those important people in her life that the person they loved was now gone and by her hand?

"Pathetic," Inner Moka's rich voice scolded herself. "My Tsukune's dead in my lap and I'm already thinking past him. When was I ever really worthy of him?"

Her fingers curled around his locks of hair and even brushed off her long silver tresses when they floated about his face. Nothing made sense anymore. Everything that should have been is now passed and all she had to do was look forward to a bleak future with her family and the unknown. It was so much easier to accept the tribulations fate would throw at her and Tsukune's way when they were together.

It had always been them against the world...and now her greatest fear had come to back like karma: She was alone...again.

No, she wasn't alone as she had been back in Jr High in the human world. Her friends were still there with her and would more then likely mourn their man of their dreams and souls...If they didn't try to bring her to her mate through murderous means. Still, it wasn't the same when that man, her Tsukune, was nothing more then a corpse.

"What do I do now?" Moka voice helplessly aloud. She was unsure of what to do not only in the immediate future but with the rest of her life as well. Everything seemed bleak to her, like some glorious journey prepared and planned for in every detail only to discover the distant shining goal you sought was destroyed and in ruins.

All their dreams, all their hopes and goals were ashes now.

She had to focus on the immediate though. Reflection on her loss would have to wait and there would be time enough for the rest later. Actions had to be put into affect, so deciding it was probably best to carry him back home and then call her father, she gently lifted him up not her arms. Lord Akashiya would know what to do, if anything, he could help guide her through the moment when she had to tell his mother that she, his wife, had killed her son.

She was sure he was well acquainted on what to do to keep death or murder properly sanitized.

Failing to keep the bitter tears from falling down her cheeks, she began the long walk back to their quaint villa with Tsukune in her arms, when she noticed her fingers floating through him like smoke.

"What?"

She tried to hold him only to see him melt at her touch, vanishing like morning mist beneath a hot sun.

"Tsukune!"

Trying desperately to hold on to him, she cold only watch as he disappeared with each desperate gasp. Even as he vanished, she noticed everything around followed suit as if he was her focal point to the world was crumbling and she was also falling apart, falling away...

Falling...falling...falling...

* * *

Moka woke up with a startled scream.

"TSUKUNE!"

Panting like some kind of wild beast that had just escaped its cage and captors into some sacred sanctuary, relief was hardly the word for how she felt. Looking about everything was back to where it had been when she'd fought the succubus. Slapping her fingers over both eyes, she had the most incredible headache. Her eyes ached, her head throbbed like it was in a vice ready to burst.

It was only a moment till she couldn't handle anymore and she threw up behind a bit of turned over earth.

Coughing wetly and wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, she took in her surroundings and was surprised to see the uprooted trees, the gouges in the earth, and the oncoming of night greet her like the sweetest lullaby. As soon as she was able to get her bearings, she caught a scent that was better than the sweetest wine. She dashed after it despite the pain in her head and was soon rewarded with the most beautiful sight she had ever witnessed.

Her Tsukune was straddling that bitch of a succubus and had his hands around her throat.

Moka cried.

Moka, that most proud of vampires wept without shame when she saw that her Tsukune, her mate, her husband, and forever her one true love was alive. Pouncing him with a tackle that would have leveled at tree, Moka embraced her love to her breasts and held him tight as her body as her arms could manage. Wracked with utter bliss that her beloved Tsukune was with her again, alive and well.

Damn succubi! Damn her enemies! Her past, her family, damn her _pride_!

Tsukune, her most cherished and precious person was alive and nothing in the world mattered...

...if he was aware of her.

"Tsukune?" She had pulled him further away and was extremely worried that he had not reacted at all when she slid him on his back and away from Shade. Shaking him, poking him, even a smart slap didn't change her from staring past her blankly. "Tsukune, wake up."

His eyes were glazed over and it took just the moment for her to realize what had happened to her and her mate. Tsukune's vacant expression that of a man hypnotized and probably lost in the same illusion world that Kurumu's aunt had trapped her in.

Growling, she glanced over to Shade and knew how she had been beaten when no other physical means could possibly explain it. Gently placing her mate and husband on a knoll, the vampire daughter stood up and hissed a powerful, vampiric promise.

__

I brought you here to me and my husband, so no one is really more to blame then I.

The gravel under her foot crunched with her light steps.

__

You have brought violation to my marriage, to myself, and to my husband. This is my fault and I will amend what I have done.

Taking her husband's place and straddling Shade's semi nude body with the remains of her sundress tattered about her, Moka gripped her attacker's neck with one hand and brought her right hand back cocked to spear her fingertips into the woman's chest and through her heart.

__

I will ensure we never suffer you again. By my hand I invited you here after you had your way with me, so it will be by my hand that I remedy that which is the cancer of our lives.

* * *

So many questions had crossed through his mind, yet none came with a satisfactory answer to appease his building shame.

__

Had he really done that? Was this all a trick? How could this possibly be? Why had Kurumu not told him about any of this? How had she gotten away without telling anyone about it or showing anyone what had really happened to her?

So many questions...so little answers, at least, ones he had not asked out loud.

His tormentor watched him sort out the cacophony of emotions and confusion. The most obvious of his requests came to his lips when it dawned on him that he had not asked it yet.

"Did this happened while Kurumu and I were making love, right?"

Shade tilted her hand in a 'so-so' gesture. "Not exactly, Tsukune."

Tsukune frowned a bit, expecting that the most obvious was that he had. Lowering his head and clenched his fists, he stated with conviction. "I wouldn't hurt Kurumu. I may not see her as Moka's equal, but I would not hurt my friends. I firmly believe that I didn't do this to her. I wouldn't. At this time, during that moment, she was my greatest friend and I couldn't do that to her even if I was angry at her."

His captor's answer surprised him.

"True. I have no doubt that you wouldn't purposely lay a hand on my Mumu-chan."

Now he was confused and he expressed it.

"You said I did that to Kurumu!" He gestured to the space in front of them now empty of his crime.

"I said 'purposely', Tsukune." She corrected with an arch of her brow. "If I felt you were irrecoverably damaged, I would have done my best to keep my niece away from you, even if you are her Destined One. However," She pointed a finger into the sky to make a point. "I simply could not let what happened to my Mumu-chan go unpunished. Mind you, I am upset, very much so. This is why I needed to get your attention, by any means."

Feline steps approached him and she stared him eye to eye. "Any...means."

He simply nodded. Putting himself in the same place Shade was he wondered what he would do if someone else had done this to Kurumu or any of his friends. Would he have even had the restraint to listen to an explanation or would he simply have beaten the guilty party to a pulp?

He wasn't sure.

"You know exactly what happened that night, don't you?" He asked warily.

As much as he knew there was no true reason to see the act at it's worst, he felt it was necessary to witness what Kurumu had brought Shade into his and wife's lives. The thought of seeing Kurumu in pain, suffering, bleeding and basically dying on the inside, he knew this was a sort of spiritual redemtion that had to be done.

If it was true, then this was just accepting his actions and preparing himself for the consequences he was sure he had already paid.

"I do," Shade said simply, flicking her fingers to dust her hair from her eyes.

"Show me."

The arch succubus tilted an eyebrow at him. "Are you sure you want me to show you? It's rather brutal."

Pinching his lips, he nodded. Even though it sickened him he _had _to know.

"Very well, Aono Tsukune," Shade raised her hands and closed her mix matched eyes. "But just so you know that I am only showing you what Kurumu has expressed to me. Remember, above all things here, I am just the messenger."

* * *

"STOP!" Kurumu's distraught piercing scream stopped the silver haired vampire from her mortal stroke.

Falling from the sky and sweping Moka off the supine succubus like an dark angel of mercy, Moka was flung bodily off her intended victim and tumbled across the ground in a rolling heap of skirts, tail, and wings. Embarrassingly enough, she also found herself face deep into Tsukune's most common smotherings from back in Youkai to his present.

Ear deep Kurumu's blouse and into her breasts.

"What are you doing!" Kurumu gripped Moka to her wrapped legs and tail about her auntie's almost killer with all her strength. "Don't kill her, she's my auntie!"

Moka peeled herself from the very revealing blouse and shoved Kurumu's shoulder's onto the ground after a brief tumble.

"What are you doing here, Kurumu! No one knows where this place is!" Moka snarled at her pinned friend fighting desperately under her fingers.

"What are you talking about?" Kurumu looked mightily confused, "I got a call from your sister Ria that she was trying to steal Tsukune away from you. I came here to stop her."

Moka blinked, but was not very surprised that her dark Nee-sama had her hand somewhere in all of this.

"As skilled and succulent of a treat I am sure your Mother's sister is, she will not earn the favor of _My_ Tsukune." Moka enforced her point by digging her fingers into Kurumu's wrists to the point of getting the young succubus to squeak in pain. "At least not after I put a few holes in her."

"What's all this about?" Kurumu was near tears as she flailed her legs helplessly under Moka's straddled seat. "This wasn't supposed to happen like this!"

"What, Kurono Kurumu?" Moka hissed angrily, ready to get to the root of everything that has happened to her and her husband. "What is your involvement in Shade's malicious plans to destroy my husband and I?"

"Back at the wedding," Kurumu began to weep sadly, "I told my auntie about what Tsukune did to me when you and Tsukune were fighting one night and she..."

Moka threw her head back in suspicious confusion.

"Tsukune did something to you?" Moka inquired carefully.

Looking away from the woman who had not only took her Destined One's love, Tsukune's first kiss, his first time in bed, and...well, Mizore was the first to have his child...

"Kurumu," Moka's voice held a patience that Kurumu had not expected to receive from Tsukune's wife. Crossing her arms over her rival's bosom, she said two words that sent as much a demand as well as a promise of unpleasant things if Kurumu didn't comply. "Tell me."

Nodding her head, Kurumu placed her hands on top of Moka's thighs. "I will, but please don't hurt my auntie, okay? It's my fault!"

"I don't care," Moka sniffed angrily at her friend now prisoner, "I just want to know what you mean by this is 'your fault'."

"I'll tell you," The indigo'd haired woman nodded compliantly. "Just don't hurt her, okay?"

Moka craned her neck to see Shade still lying languidly, her expressionless eyes staring up into the sky. Just a little ways off, Tsukune was also resting just as peacefully, just as quietly.

"Now why should I not kill the woman who raped me, hmm?" Moka lifted one silvery eyebrow to her friend.

"Raped?" Kurumu was barely able to get the word out of her mouth. "No! She wouldn't do that! She...she..."

"Back at the reception, Korono Kurumu, when I threw myself at Tsukune in tears," Moka moved a lock of blue hair from across her friend's face, "as my Outer Self. She locked me in the lady's room and put me under her charm. There, she touched me, licked me, and brought me to climax without my permission and against my will. It was rape, pure and simple."

Beneath her arms, Kurumu's lips quivered as she continued to shake her head. "I didn't think she would go this far, I swear!"

"What, Kurumu?" Moka pushed on the young succubus's shoulders hard enough to hurt.

"She just wanted to help you and Tsukune with what was eventually going to happen to you after I told her about the night Tsukune and I had."

"And what could she do that you would think needed her intervention that Tsukune or I could not handle on our own." Moka asked with a tone that was as arrogant and confident as she had ever been. "What possible eventuality could she possibly be so important that it would deserve such inexcusable and unforgiving actions against us?"

Without blinking an eye or shying away from Moka's inquisitive glare, Kurumu spoke so quietly that Moka couldn't help but believe Kurumu when she said, "Tsukune was going to kill you."


	23. Ch 23 Do You Forgive Me

**AN: To all my loyal fans and readers out there who have waited WAY too long for this update, I have my sincerest apologies to offer. All of you know that from that one chapter I had written two stories of Get What You Wanted and Take What Is Yours and have been consumed by it. As of late, life has pulled me into it with both hands and held me in place.**

**While I won't apologize for that, I will say that I can only hope you enjoy this update. This story should be finished within the next chapter or so.**

**No promises.**

**Without further delay, allow me to introduce the next chapter.**

**Your Mistress.**

**PS-At the end of this chapter, I am including the first chapter of a story Lord Of The Land Of Fire and I have been working on together.**

**It's called Bloody Mary.**

**I hope all of you will enjoy it and see the other chapters he has posted on his website, deviant art account, or FictionPress account. There are four chapters so far and I think the story is very good. Please let me know what you think!**

**The Bet**

Ch 23 Do You Forgive Me?

"Impossible."

Moka's lips curled in damning accusation. Kurumu's dark violet eyes softened with her gentle stubbornness, shaking her aqua locks in response.

"I know you don't believe me," The voluptuous succubus began.

"You're lying!" Moka snarled, her very soul aglow in outrageous fire as she snatched her husband's mistress by the collar of her blouse,"He is Tsukune, my mate! My love! My very breath and blood! To even conceive what you are saying as true-"

"It is!" Kurumu interrupted, taking Moka's own collar by her thin fingers. "That night, when we finished making love that night, the most amazing love I've ever had with him," Kurono Kurumu reached out with her fingers, brushing the quivering cheeks of the vampire above her to try and bring a sense of comfort and sincerity to her Destined One's wife still stuck in her disbelief, she continued, "I had never felt so wanted, Moka. Do you know why?"

Her lips moved, fangs pressed over her smooth, pale pink lips to defend her own truths, but as she looked down at her rival from the Academy and appraise the most serene and most placid expression of sincerity that the normally spirited succubus was giving her, Moka decided then and there she needed to listen.

"Why, Kurumu?"

Kurumu's hands traveled up Moka's sleeveless arms, pulling her closer to Kurumu's face, "Because he was ready to move on from you. He was seeking love and pleasure beyond you."

Glaring down, Moka hissed between her teeth threateningly.

"I've always known you would do anything to take my Tsukune away from me, Kurono Kurumu, but this trick of yours won't work." Inner Moka was already pushing herself off of Kurumu, ready to hear another outlandish story or some cry of disappointment to mocking challenge from the spirited buxom mistress.

Then they fell, like perfectly shaped diamonds, like fat raindrops from Kurumu's eyes.

"Trick?" The word sounded so hollow, so utterly devoid of emotion...

"Trick..." Now, there was a sliver of _it_: feelings, pain, something ripping, shredding, visceral, and raw...

"Trick...trick...trick..." Her voice sounded funny, comical, almost tinted with a little bit of...

Kurumu shot through Moka from the ground like a lightening bolt, pinning her against the tree behind her with power that surprised the usually astute vampiress.

...insanity.

"TRICK!" Large dark violet eyes drilled through Moka's surprised crimson irises, "You think this is a little game? You think I wanted what happened that night! Th-that...LOSS! You think I wasn't at my wits end? You think I had the answers, the right state of mind to do anything but call my mother and cry in a shower till she had to pull me out and take me to the doctor to tell me everything was gone? You think all of that was...was..."

Moka felt Kurumu's claw like fingers grip herself around her middle, her bloodshot eyes looking past Moka, into a memory...

Despite almost losing her breath a little, the silver haired vampiress couldn't help but feel empathy towards her rival.

...that altered things between Kurumu and her Destined One.

"He was supposed to protect me, love me, take care of me...of us."

"Us?" Moka spoke the word softly, barely a breath past her lips. "Who's 'us', Kurumu?"

Large wet eyes answered, "I had thought of names. My mother and I were already looking for toys, clothes, a room...we were already discussing different ways to tell Tsukune...I wanted him to know. I really, really wanted him to be happy about it."

Glancing back at her husband and Kurumu's aunt to ensure they were out cold still, Moka relaxed her husband's most devoted crush away from her stomach to lead her back to where they tumbled into each other.

"What are you telling me, Kurumu? What does any of this have to do with Tsukune wanting to kill me, Shade raping me, and my sister bringing you here?"

Kurumu didn't answer for a while, instead, she just looked past Moka towards the man who had changed her life more than any other person she knew.

"My auntie really did start off having the best intentions," Kurumu began, "I know she is different and extreme, but if you could just see she wanted to help me in her own way, perhaps you could forgive-"

"No," Inner Moka's answer was final. "I WILL not forgive your aunt, Kurumu. Now, if you are here to bide her time, I assure you that you are just wasting it. She...will...pay."

The solemnity of Moka's words brought a weird light to Kurumu's dark violet eyes.

"Then who will make _you_ pay, Aono Moka?"

Moka blinked at Kurumu's tone. It was not often Kurumu used a voice that put Inner Moka on the defensive. It was even rarer so that Moka would take the succubus's threat as seriously as she had.

With the history of what Shade had done to her, her husband in the current state he is in now, and with her sister's involvement, Moka knew she had to listen and listen well.

"Why would I need to pay for anything, Kurumu? I have not harmed you or your aunt. What is the meaning of any of this? What did you mean earlier when you mentioned a doctor and 'us'? What loss, Kurumu?"

Lips quivering, Kurumu couldn't hold back the tears anymore, "Tsukune hurt me."

Moka took what the bluenette said to heart with a dread that echoed everything she just experienced. It was keen and sharp, something horrible and wretched.

It had to be!

"Tsukune wouldn't hurt you, Kurumu. He cares for you and, yes, you annoy us at times, but it's not in Tsukune's heart to ever hurt you enough to send you to the doctors."

Licking her lips, as if trying to say what had been pent up inside of her heart and soul for so long it would be a revelation equivalent to a dam bursting, Kurumu said what she had to...

"That night, when I came to pick him up after you two had fought, he was not himself, Moka. That night when we made love and he fell asleep on me, he was tossing and turning, as if in pain. I called to him, but he wouldn't wake up. Whatever he was suffering, it was dark and deep rooted. So...so I..." Kurumu exhaled carefully, trying to prepare what she was going to say something that would reflect the most horrific night of her life, "...I went into his dreams to see if I could see what he was dreaming about."

Moka listened, her silvery brows furrowed a bit at this new bit of information. "You can do that?"

In response, Kurumu's tail sprouted to snake up in front of Moka, eventually blossoming like a flower to show it's delicate insides.

"With this, I can. I'm still learning but, with this, I am able to link his mind with my own." Rubbing her hands in a nervous gesture, Kurumu's fingers eventually knotted together, bracing herself for her revelation. "It didn't work exactly as I expected it to. I don't know how, but I messed up and...and..."

"And what?"

"...and what I was able to get out was a vision. Pieces of what he was remembering, thinking, enduring-"

"Enduring? What could he possible be having nightmares about? There's nothing I could have done to-"

"Yes, you did!" Was Kurumu's barking reply. "You really, really..." Kurumu exhaled shakily, trembling her voice as she spoke quietly, sincerely, "You did."

Kurumu's distress was real. No matter how much Moka tried to fight the mistress succubus, she couldn't deny what all of her senses were telling her.

"You tore his soul to pieces and when he left you-"

"Left me?" Moka's lips barely let the words pass her teeth. "He never left me-"

"Yes, he did!" Kurumu rebutted accusingly. "That _night_! When you two were fighting, I heard you mention Gin's name as he came with me!"

Comprehension of what Kurumu was talking about surfaced in Moka's expression. "That night..." A sliver of regret crept into Inner Moka's normally austere voice. "I know what you're talking about."

Now Moka looked away, feeling a taint of guilt in her heart.

"That threat was a mistake," Moka voiced to Kurumu, admitting painfully. "I never should have said it."

Facing the woman who loved her husband as much as she did, Moka eyed Kurumu unflinchingly. "I will never do that again."

Weighing her Destined One's words carefully, Kurumu blue locks flounced as she shook her head. "That doesn't take anything back. You still don't understand."

"What don't I understand, Kurumu?"

Sitting on her bottom like a young girl being scolding, Kurumu covered her eyes and wept. Her heart breaking sobs trickled tears into her thin pretty blouse and onto her bent knees. "You don't understand how much I love him."

Looking down at her, Moka relaxed her hands at her sides, confused and curious as to what her fierce rival for her husband's love was trying to tell her.

"Kurumu," Moka lowered herself to place her hands on her friend and rival's shoulders. "I know you love him. I do, but what does this have to do with-"

Like a whip, Kurumu's tail thrust onto Moka's head like a viper, almost appearing to swallow the silver haired vampiress before she could utter another word.

Moka's eyes went wide with shock, her hand ready to snatch onto Kurumu's fifth appendage to rip it off of her head, but it was too late. Kaleidoscope lights danced in Moka's vampire red slit eyes and whatever physical strength she had was soon swallowed into the world of her own mind.

Kurumu sniffled into her hands, one violet eye peeked open to stare at the waning strength of Aono Moka. Repositioning herself behind her most precious person's wife, she gently pulled Moka onto her lap and glanced out of the corner of her eyes. Just a few feet away from each other, her Destined One and her auntie were off in the world of Illusion doing who knew what.

"It's time you knew...everything."

She was back in this world of color, of light, of ghostly substance and immaterial reality. Everything revealed itself into a hotel room with two people in bed. It was far from something her and her husband would find themselves, but there was no doubt as to whose head was peeking out on the pillow next to Kurumu's aqua blue locks.

He was moaning fitfully in his sleep.

One violet eye opened up next to him, the sheets covering Kurumu fell away to expose her naked full breasts pressing against Tsukune's back.

"Tsukune" She whispered, afraid to wake him up.

The young man flinched painfully, his eyes closing hard, trying to close the images in his mind. "No, Moka...stop..."

"Tsukune, it's me, wake up." Kurumu gave his arm a little shake, but it only made him flinch away from her.

"We can...talk about...it...just...don't...no..."

"Moka," Kurumu murmured, nuzzling her cheek against her beloved's shoulder. "Does this have to do with your fight, Tsukune?"

He shook his head, now starting to bead with sweat. "...please...please...Moka...chan..."

Kurumu was never known to be a bright girl, however that never stopped her from expressing concern or helping a friend or her beloved Destined One if ever the moment arose.

Her coiled tail sprouted from under the sheets, blossoming like some kind of organic four petal'd flower with its delicate insides sticky and lubricated with some viscus liquid.

Kurumu hadn't been properly trained in the technique her auntie and mother tried to show her. It just didn't seem important to the girl who had the honor of being treasured by her Destined One.

The matter was also never pushed.

Placing over her treasured lover's head, Kurumu closed her eyes and pushed her youkai energy into the man's psyche.

The mind scape was a curious place to venture, Kurumu noted. It's not always a place of stars or clouds, running winds or endless seas. Each one was different to the person in front of them.

She also pictured herself as she saw herself in his mind.

Blue haired, busty, curvy, minute in stature and devilishly gorgeous...with the exception of fairy wings instead of batlike wings.

The first thing she noted was that all around Tsukune's mind was this endless tape from an old projector reel she had once seen. An endless horizon of it was spread before her, every now and then a screen would pop up and there was a flash of memory being played.

His first time arriving at Youkai.

The first time he pulled off Moka's rosario.

When Tsukune met all of his harem lovers, herself included.

The times he would unintentionally catch glimpses of exposed underwear or soft curves of a woman's bust.

It made her giggle that as much as he denied himself and to others, he was still a man at heart who had a healthy appetite for the visual appeal of a woman's body.

A few nice flashes on screens were of Kurumu pouncing him and burying him ear deep into her breasts.

While there was always some kind of excuse for suffocation or someone trying to 'save him' from his pillowy demise, in Tsukune's mind, Kurumu was quite sure she could 'feel' him think how lucky he was.

"He totally loved it." She thought proudly, giving her 'girls' an appreciative pat.

Still, none of these screens were answering her questions. Curious, she flitted about from one to another when she came upon a vault. All around it was a feeling of foreboding, something sinister, something evil. Something...

...unsafe.

What was it?

Curious still, Kurumu approached it. There were no doors, no hinged gateway that showed a way to enter.

Only a Mirror.

Kurumu liked mirrors...except Lilith's. That one she could stay away from.

Coming before it, she took an appraising look at the spectacular beauty before her, an exact copy of herself grinning cheekily back. Turning her cheek left and then right, combing her fingers through her aqua locks till they cascaded down over her bare shoulders, she saw her own violet eyes inquisitively look at it as if some oddity. Slender fingers slid over the slight lip of the four corners, checking for any hint or clue of how to get inside of place of secrets.

A Pandora's Box.

Curiosity began to consume her as well as worry.

"Moka...chan..."

From out of the air, her beloved Tsukune's voice filled the endless reels clicking about their gears, screens filled with images of his pasts.

On one screen, she saw it like a shadow in her peripheral...

It was Inner Moka.

The sleek silver hair falling in perfect strait locks fell about her stoic face in a majestic mane. Red, red eyes like fire and judgement scowled back at Kurumu as it did nothing more then stare...

...weighing her...

...considering her...

In a weird way, Kurumu noticed in all of the memories on display, one thing she was certain of.

They were all lacking love.

So, if that was the case, why was this one screen displaying Moka in a light that seemed to be...

...damning her...

It made her flinch away from the mirror when, in its reflection, another image appeared on a reel.

The same person, Inner Moka with her hands on her hips, scowling back at Kurumu.

"Moka...chan...stop..."

It was Tsukune's voice and there was no doubt her Destined One was still asleep and, by the sounds of it, he was in pain.

"...please...don't say those things..."

Another screen appeared around her, this time with Inner Moka's back to him.

"...I love you, Moka-chan. Don't..."

Another.

"...make...me..."

Then another.

"...choose..."

All around her, there were screen shots of Inner Moka. Each one a figment of austere distaste and dominant refusal. Each one made Kurumu flinch back in worry.

Where had her beloved seen these images?

Each one was an emotional slap in the face.

She could feel it.

It was all over the place now, surrounding her, suffocating her in Kurumu's heart, in her beloved's Tsukune's mind.

It made every part of her heart ache with how much she wanted to help him.

But how?

Glancing back at the mirror, Kurumu had a thought. It was a weird thing to consider, but with this very real pain in her Destined One's soul, she wanted to do something.

Anything.

So, as she approached the mirror again, she closed her eyes and focused. When her eyes opened, looking back at her was no other than a long platinum tress'd aristocratic proud head of hair that fell to the back of her naked hamstrings.

"Moka...chan?"

This time, there was recognition in her beloved's dream scape.

The vault that had been sealed tight dissolved away, revealing a little boy. Hunched over into a little ball, weeping quietly into his dirty fists, it looked for all intent and purposes as if he had just been beaten up. Bruises and welts covered his little arms, hair had been coated with blood where he had been bludgeoned with something hard, scrapes and little scabs dotted his legs as he tried to cover his weeping eyes.

Without a doubt, Kurumu recognized him in an instant.

In a voice that was her victorious rival's but as soothing as a woman who loved could muster, Kurumu spoke to him. "Tsukune-kun?"

He scrambled away from her as if he was about to be lit on fire.

"I'm sorry!" He crossed his arms in front of his face, protecting himself from the very sight of her. "I didn't mean to! I never meant to! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

This was the heart of his pain, she realized.

"I'm sorry, Moka-chan," The voice echoed inside the world of screens and reels.

The words 'I'm sorry' printed themselves in all languages from English, to Kanji Japanese, to Cantonese Chinese, to French, to German...all saying the same thing.

_I'm sorry._

Still curious but worried for him, Kurumu slowly approached him, watching him as he continued to try and hide himself as much as he could from behind his little hands.

"What are you sorry for, Tsukune?" The throaty voice of Inner Moka inquired softly.

He just shook his little head, trembling and hyperventilating as he sobbed.

Putting herself close enough to touch him, 'Inner Moka' reached out and gently took one of the little boys hands and, despite his protest, had a cloth damp with medicine appear to touch his wounds.

It made him wince in pain.

"Shhhh...there there, Tsukune. This will make it feel better."

Little by little, his wounds started to visibly heal. Upon closer inspection, she realized these wounds weren't from someone else, but from him.

He did this to himself. It worried her.

She had yet to look at his face, but he had not fought her to let him wipe at his wounds. Little by little, she healed him and, as motherly and lovingly as she could, she leaned behind him and hugged him.

It looked as if he wanted to jump out of his skin.

She held him tighter.

"There, Tsukune. I'm here for you...I'm here for you..." She whispered in Inner Moka's most loving voice. "Whatever it is you're sorry for, I promise I will forgive you."

Sniffling through his nose, one grubby knuckle came up it as he asked nervously, "You...promise?"

Nodding her proud head, she kissed his shoulder and pressed her naked breasts against his back. "I love you, Tsukune. I would forgive you of anything."

No sooner had those words spoke when she felt the little boy disappear in her arms as if he never existed. Looking at her empty hands speculatively, she looked about herself and the world of reels and screens filled with the image of Inner Moka's fierce gaze.

One by one...

Fire...

Black, raging fire...

Screens...

Became fire...

Flashes of Moka...

Inner Moka...

On fire...

Inner Moka...

Bleeding...

Inner Moka...

On Screens, screaming...

On screens, groaning...

Inner Moka...bleeding...

Inner Moka...being ripped apart...

Fire...being lit on fire...

Water...burning her...

Suffocating her...with water...

Laughing at her...

As she was bleeding...

Claws with talons raking across her body, spilling her innards like an animal on a spit!

In the back of Kurumu's mind, still looking like Moka, shock wouldn't even begin to clearly express what kind of soul impaling mauling she could feel.

_"If you won't allow me to raise my child as I see fit, Tsukune, than I will find someone who will."_

It was her voice...

No, not her voice, but Inner Moka's. That voice had said those things, to him! Her most cherished person and this woman, his wife, had dared to say those things to him! Why?

_"I know Gin has always been interested in me."_

In pictures here and there, a dotting of Gin and Moka kissing, embracing...

"Stop..."

His voice, echoing in the world now consumed with fire and melting reels. Black, inky smoke spilled out everywhere, screens became infernos as images of Moka and Gin touching each other.

"...I love you, Moka..."

Their clothes were coming off...

"Moka, can't you see..." His voice was surrounding her, getting louder...

So very loud!

_"I'm sure if I ask him, he won't mind giving me what you won't, Tsukune."_

"...what you are doing to me!"

Tsukune's voice became a bellows, making the pyres of fire raise high into the eternal darkness above in an instant flash of pain and abject anguish!

Kurumu covered her face and her eyes as she ducked under her arms. Around her was this heat, this amazing billows that promised to consume her soul and her mind.

What madness!

What utterly cruelty and loathing! It was all around her and it was directed towards her! The very weight of it became bare to her and there was nothing she could do to protect herself with!

All of her training to enter a person's mind and none of it involved on how to keep her safe.

She was at his will, his whim.

Why had Moka done this to him?

Two red eyes looked down at her from the dark heavens.

His eyes, two red, red eyes of anger and accusation glowered at her. In a voice larger than the universe spoke and it make her quake to the marrow in her bones.

**"You promise to forgive me?"**

Whimpering in fear, Moka's image with Kurumu's soul looked up into the sky with wet tears staining her cheeks.

Nodding, with her streamer length silver hair rippling with her movement, Inner Moka's voice said, "Yes. I will."

As if someone turned off a switch, everything went black.

Nothing...absolute nothing could be felt. No substance, no floor, no air, no wind, no...anything.

And just as quick...

Kurumu gasped back into the reality of her world, her tail gone from where Tsukune's head had been.

He was sitting up, staring at the wall across from her.

Catching her breath and covered in sweat, she reached out to touch him.

It was him.

"Tsukune-kun?"

It wasn't her voice.

What happened?

Looking down at herself and the mirror, near her, she was surprised to see not only the reflection of herself...

In that same mirror, she saw two people in an obscene twist of limbs and genitalia, grooming each other's mouths with lapping tongues and erotic moans of sexual pleasure.

...as Inner Moka.

In the reflection of the Mirror was an image of Outer Moka and Gin, going at it with a gusto of two people in love and famished for the other. The bed squeaking, the scent of sweat and intimate fluids was smothering, and the heat of their bodies was radiating...

Turning to the bed where Tsukune had sat, was now occupied with Gin and Moka, growling hungrily as they feasted on each other, him fucking her with all of his might and her Inner, pink haired self absolutely adoring it.

"Moka-chan," Tsukune's voice appeared behind her, scaring her.

"Tsukune?" Kurumu voiced with Inner Moka tone tried to focus herself out of this, try to run away and pull herself out of this nightmare that Tsukune had pulled her into, but it was obvious he wouldn't let her.

_**"Moka-chan,"**_

Craning her neck around, the person before her wasn't Tsukune...but some vile, twisted version of his ghoul self with his vampire self. Something black and sinuous, with veins of red orange thick blood pulsing over naked skin.

"Tsukune," Now...she was scared.

Very, very scared.

_**"Do you want to know why I want you to forgive me?"**_

Swallowing her breath, Inner Moka with Kurumu's mind nodded earnestly, still in disbelieve what was transpiring next to her.

_It isn't real, it isn't real, it isn't real!_ Kurumu told herself, yet...

A thick, charred black hand gripped her neck so hard she could hear her vertebrae protest in cracks.

Back at the hotel room where Kurumu and Tsukune still lay in bed with the succubu's tail attached to him, Tsukune own hand reached out and grabbed the bluenette's neck in an iron strong grip that made Kurumu's eye's pop open and gurgle an attempt to breath.

Fighting him to open his fingers, Tsukune was still asleep and his eyes closed.

Lifting himself off the bed and taking Kurumu's small, curvy frame from touching the mattress of the bed, he cried with a loud scream that promised wake the neighbors up and down the hall.

Kurono Kurumu was literally slammed bodily into the solid floor with a body shattering crash!

Something torqued in Kurumu's shoulder and her breath left her in a woosh. Her eyes danced with stars and her womb that held her child...

...their child...

...could noticeably rebound in side of the back of her spine.

She tasted blood.

Eyes still closed, Tsukune's face was grim as he said, "I'm going to kill you, Moka-chan."

* * *

You can find the story Bloody Mary at storiesfromlotlof dot com or on Lord Of The Land Of Fire's Fiction Press dot com account.

Here is a link: www. Fiction press s /2870112 /1/ Bloody_Mary

I hope this helps!

* * *

Novel Preview: Bloody Mary

**Author's Note:** This story is being co-written with 'Mistress Winowyll.' Though this is being posted here it belongs to her as much as it does to me.

**Boston, Massachusetts**

**April first.**

**One year ago.**

It was like a scene from some macabre play. There were bodies scattered up and down the streets. Car alarms were blaring, mixing with the sound of human cries and pleas for help. Smoke was still floating in the air; people were running around terrified and confused, dashing from one place to the next. Wounded or the simply dazed staggered about calling for help or seeking out some place of safety. Others lay in the street, bloodied and broken.

To Mary they were all nameless, faceless strangers. All except for her fellow students.

In one spot, she found several mannequins that were dressed for a spring sale in Versace blouses and skirts scattered about a Wendy's parking lot. She wondered if the company would consider beneath their usual clientele.

Screams… so many people screaming and begging for help. There were those who had kept their heads and were shouting to try and get people to calm down. They were mostly ignored as people were too panicked to listen or calm down. In the distance there were gunshots, likely from police trying to deal with the remaining monsters that had invaded downtown Boston and turned it into this horror.

The corpses of monsters mixed with humans, though the latter were in far greater number. Body parts littered the ground and shattered glass crunched under her feet with every step. Everything was chaos; the ordinary world was long since gone.

This was an 'Incursion.' That was what they called it whenever monsters appeared in a town or city. Most incursions usually involved only one or two creatures though. Hundreds, maybe up to a thousand, had appeared here today. Far more than the ordinary authorities could ever hope to deal with. A desperate appeal had been sent out to all the local mages as well as to the local Academy.

The Academy students along with the true mages had finally killed them all, the goblins, the dire wolves, the orcs, and the handful of more powerful creatures like werewolves and vampires. But it had not been easy and it had not come without a cost. Thousands of ordinary people had been butchered while dozens of mages and magic users had died trying to protect them. Except for a scattered remnant all the monsters finally seemed to be dead though. Around her a dozen of her peers kept a careful watch. They were hovering close by to protect their precious healer.

She was kneeling down on the broken glass somewhere on Newbury street, the sharp edges cut and ground into her. Lying in front of her was a man in a tailored pin stripe silver and French cotton suit. Marcus was barely conscious, the blood spilling out of him like a slowly leaking can. For once all the arrogance was gone from him. His dismissive, handsome blue eyes were looking up at her, pleading.

"Please Mary," he whispered, his breath coming out in a labored pant. "Don't let me die."

Calmly Mary took out a switchblade and cut both of her own hands. She planted them on his chest over the horrible gash. Her palms were slit down to her wrists to offer her blood to mix with his. His wound was deep and fatal, but she knew she could fix it. Mary dug in her nails, slowly and deliberately adding just slightly to his pain.

A small part of her thought back to the times when Marcus would scold her or mock her for ruining the expensive clothes he got her, he would lecture her about Italian silk and about designer originals. What would an ignorant, back country hill billy know of the value of a quality item in the first place? Mary thought of how he ignored her, and how he would never touch her unless it was one of those nights, when a warm body, any warm body, would do.

Now he needed her, only she could keep him alive.

Her focus was as intense as it had ever been for any of her patients. He was staring back with all the hope and expectation of a man who knew she could save him. In that moment she became the most important thing in the world to him. Yet even now she could feel his resentment through their bond.

She was Mary Hutchinson. The Academy's one and only user of blood magic and a prodigy even among their elite student body. The near dead could be brought back to life, torn organs made whole, and severed limbs reattached. That was the sort of skill Mary had with her blood magic.

"_Curror subsisto vulnus propinquus_." Chanting fervently, the words were to a spell she willed the wounds to close and the body to heal itself. She had just helped a man a few minutes ago. He had been ripped open from neck to groin and was about a minute from death. Now he was whole again and complaining of the pain in his chest and belly. By comparison this should have been simple enough.

If the magic would come, that is.

Miss Hutchinson started to pinch her face in effort, gritting her teeth in focus and physically pushed the wounds closed with her hands in the most rudimentary first aid procedures. The normal healing warmth that linked her to her patient was absent. The magic wouldn't come. His blood kept flowing out and she couldn't stop it.

"Mary please," Marcus managed to place a single trembling hand over one of hers; his skin was clammy and cool. His voice trembled in repentant worry. "I'm sorry, I take it back. Please save me."

There were tears in his eyes.

'He only cries for himself,' she couldn't keep from thinking resentfully.

Pushing the thought from her mind, she shook her head clear and focused on the spell repeating the enchantment again and again. Veins were supposed to close, bones were supposed to set themselves, and muscles knit back together. Her magic was supposed to repair the damage; it was supposed to save him.

But the magic wouldn't come.

This should have been child's play, she recalled hundreds of other wounds healing themselves under her touch.

No matter what she did the spell wouldn't work. She could feel his heart beat slowing as his life bled away through her hands.

"M'sorry, Marcus." She blinked her pretty dark eyes, hoping to offer some sense of comfort to him with their shared bond.

He understood and his plea turned into the most vicious scowl he could muster with his pale face and gritted teeth.

"Bitch," he spoke with the last of his breath. "You let me die."

She wanted to explain, to tell him why that wasn't true, but the words would not have comforted him. They would have only been pathetic excuses meant to protect her, so she did not argue with him. Instead she watched him wheeze and shudder wet breaths through his mouth. She felt her connection to him through their bond slowly fade. As his feelings began to disappear she couldn't help but feel relieved.

With his last bit of strength, he pushed her hands off of him and tried to spit at her, but all he had managed was a gurgle and shudder in his final throes.

When he finally settled and the light from his eyes glazed over, Mary closed them, leaving two bloody streaks over his lids to his cheeks. Leaning back on her feet and clasping her hands, the well-dressed girl offered him a moment of silence. Looking down at his strong build and handsomely dressed figure, she wondered if he had always dressed as if he were going to die. He certainly had the proper attire on.

"Gu'bye, Marcus," With her manicured nails and diamond tennis bracelet, Mary Hutchinson got to her feet with her Prada leather slip on just a foot away from her and carefully pulled out the slivers of glass that had dug themselves into her knees, ruining her stockings.

She did not cry for him. She would have saved him if she could have but she would not shed any false tears.

There had been no love between them.

Feeling the scrapes on her knees and down her legs, without thinking about it, she recited her most rudimentary spell. "_Vigoratus_."

There was just the slightest tell tale glow about her body, like some holy aura that shrouded her in a mystical halo of light. What she could not do for Marcus, she was able to do to herself without even trying. All over her legs and body her wounds closed and healed without a trace.

Only when she looked up did she remember how many students were there. They had all witnessed her failure to save Marcus, and what was even more damning they had all just seen her heal herself. No one said anything to her directly but they were already whispering to one another and she could see the condemnation and silent accusation in their eyes. She knew what they had to be thinking.

Still, they said nothing. She'd already helped dozens of people and plenty more still needed her. If there was a hidden, vindictive reason why she could do for them and not for their precious beloved Marcus, they did not have the courage to accuse her.

Not out loud at least.

She could see it in their eyes though; that she was already condemned. She might have explained to them why it hadn't worked, why her magic had failed.

A name began to murmur through out the gathered students, some even followed by gestured points to her dark stained clothes, crimson smeared cheeks, and hands drenched to the elbows of her once pristinely white blouse.

"…Mary…that girl…"

But she wouldn't make excuses for herself.

"She looks like she slaughtered him herself…there's just so much blood…"

If they wanted to think badly of her she would let them.

"Bloody…"

They could all just fuck themselves.

"Mary…"

"Outta ma' way!" She snapped, causing people to jump.

Without a word they parted to let her go past. As they watched her stomp over to some old woman with a head wound there were more whispers. Everyone was of the same opinion: Mary had to be the most heartless bitch they'd ever laid eyes on.

Who else would let their contract partner die?

XXX

**One Year Later, Present Time**

"Brad wants to make a contract with me!" Juliet squealed in elation to him.

"He… he does?" Talek replied with perfect calm that belied what he was really feeling.

"Isn't it wonderful?" She began to flap her hands in front of her, shifting her balance from one foot to the next. Keeping still was a task that she was ill suited to at the moment

"I never thought he would pick me but he has! It's like a dream come true!" She crowed too excited to care if she was being too loud.

Talek just stood there, silently watching the young blonde he had been pining for, and secretly hoping to offer a contract to, as she continued to dance around him.

'She's so happy,' he thought miserably.

Ignorant to his mood in her own euphoria, she grabbed a hold of him and hugged him as hard as she could. "It's all thanks to you and your help! He would never have noticed me and I would have been too scared to be anything but a nervous wreck if it weren't for you! Thank you Talek! You really are the best friend I've ever had!"

'So I'm the reason for my own stupid heart break and his happiness. Yeah, I'm a great friend. That's all I am.' Talek thought.

"That's… great," he said through a cheerless smile, watching her cheeks turn a pretty pink and her eyes glitter with anticipation.

"Oh I can't wait to tell the girls! They're all going to be so jealous!" Before she let go of him, she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and a last hug good bye. "You really are my best friend, Talek! Thank you so much! I'm sorry we won' be partners any more!"

In a flounce of blonde curls and flying skirt, she quickly walked away to tell everyone of her proposal from the man of her dreams.

Talek had never seen her so happy. It would only be appropriate that following that day, Juliet never hugged him or kissed him again.

XXX

The last class was over and his feet were shuffling him out of Ayers Hall and towards Avalon where the dorms were. He was thinking about what had happened earlier and his body was moving on auto pilot. Other students went past without giving him a thought. They were of different ages and all dressed in their own fashion. The one thing they all had in common was the zakesh, the bright red cloth slash all magic users were required to wear in public. Some of the girls wore them like scarves around their necks or as accessories around dresses like a sash. The boys mostly tied them on to their belts or around one arm.

That was how Talek wore his, tied around his left arm just above the elbow. He would put it on before going out to class and just forget about it. This was one of he few places where having a zakesh didn't get noticed.

This was Veneficus Private Academy for the Magical Arts.

Established in 1786. Located in Salem, Massachusetts. One of the world's leading schools for the instruction of magic. It was the oldest and most respected school of magic in the United States. All graduates were not only granted certificates giving them the rank of mage and a license to practice magic within their specialty, but were guaranteed to be sought after by the top guilds. To be a graduate of Veneficus was to be one of the best.

The campus was made up of a series of old brick buildings surrounded by tiny lawns and bushes. The whole school occupied less than a square mile. All the buildings were packed in tight and both students and faculty were expected to walk to where ever they had to go. Since the last classes had just ended for the day the walkways were filled with students heading towards the dorms, to eat at the cafeteria, or maybe go to the library to study.

This was where he belonged, he knew, yet he didn't feel any connection to this place.

Talek was a third year student, half way through the six year program and half way to becoming a real mage and joining a Guild. His specialty was wind magic and he was good enough at it. Certainly no genius, he had no trouble passing his courses or completing his missions. Somewhere in the middle, mediocre, average, but good enough. That was him.

Was that why Juliet had never been interested in him as anything beyond a friend? The idea of her and Brad making a contract just made him sick. It wasn't fair! He had always liked her and always been there for her. She had liked him too. They'd been partners on missions since freshman year. Spent time together and shared their hopes, dreams, and fears. They had helped each other through the loneliness of being here.

They had even been together all through the Fool's Day Incursion. They'd fought and protected each other while in real danger. Didn't that mean anything to her?

So why wasn't he good enough to be anything more than a friend? Why was it Brad?

Brad this…

Brad that…

Brad, Brad, Brad…

Why was Brad the one she wanted to make a contract with? What was wrong with him? Was he not good looking enough? Not cool enough? Was he too much of a 'nice guy?' Did he have to be an overconfident prick or just completely rearrange his genes to get the one girl he had worked so hard for?

Life wasn't fair.

As he kicked a can littering the sidewalk, a very familiar voice sang out to him.

"And wha' did that poor ole' can do ta' you ta' git yer pan'ies in a bunch?"

He knew that voice like he knew his own… but what was with that accent?

Turning around to the slim figure casually leaning against the wall of the library was his Juliet. Arms folded across her pretty blue blouse and those amazing blond curls framing the smooth milky skin of her face. Her feminine tan cloak was pinned with a tarnished silver clasp the hung over her left shoulder glittered next to the little heart shaped locket that nestled over the valley of her blossoming breasts…

Wait, she had her blouse unbuttoned? Was that her bra peeking out?

"Juliet?" Talek spoke out loud more in question then actual recognition.

There was definitely something off about her.

"Y'er one an' only, darl'n." She smiled at him…

No… smirked?

Where did that accent come from? Was it some kind of Southern drawl? She was from Wisconsin for Christ's sake!

His Juliet shrugged herself off the wall, those pretty white ankle boots tapping their heels on the cement as she approached him. Soft slender fingers curled around his arm, leaning against him bodily with a smile that offered more then the usual, friendly platonic 'happy to see you' greeting he usually received.

The way her lips pressed together, the way her sapphire blue eyes hooded and looked at him with… interest? With longing? Wasn't this the way she usually spied on Brad?

"Take'a walk wit me?" She hummed charmingly giving his arm a playful squeeze.

"Are you preparing for a play or something, Juliet? You're acting… funny." Talek tweaked his nose, looking down at the lovely young woman who he still pined for. He knew her better than anyone else on campus and he could not remember her ever acting this strangely.

Though the way she was holding on to his arm felt kind of nice.

"Why? Do ya like the da way I act?" She nuzzled close to him, pretty white teeth flashing under those soft pink lips.

"No, it's… weird."

She snorted at him. Snorted?

What the hell?

"Then lets skip da' foreplay, shu'ga."

He blinked, but before he could answer she was going to rip his arm from his socket. "Wha-?"

She snatched his wrist and was dragging him towards a direction the main gate.

XXX

The door opened to a dingy little hotel room. Talek wasn't sure what sort of place this was, but he had his suspicions. The smirking guy at the front office basically just threw a key at him and winked in a knowing way that put his teeth on edge. He'd taken one look at Juliet and started grinning!

Was it so common to see students with zakeshes visit this place? They were magic users!

"Make yer'self at home, Shug'ah." Juliet pulled him into the room, circled him, and closed the door behind him. Nervously, Talek's eyes never left her's as she pressed her back against the door and locked it with a very loud 'click'.

"What are we doing here?" He couldn't help sounding confused and a little nervous. "How do you even know about this place?"

"Cross'n boundaries, learn'n new things, creati'n bonds," His Juliet traced the front of her chest with her hands, tilted her head back, reached on her toes, and kissed him. "True love'n all."

Talek was sure this was all some strange dream and he would wake up in a hospital bed some where. This wasn't her! Even in his dreams Juliet was never this forward!

Then something occurred to him just as she pulled away.

"You…"

"Hmm?" She snaked one hand behind his neck and started to play with his hair affectionately.

"You taste like cigarettes."

"Do ah?" She flinched a bit, looking away with a slightly derailed chew of her lips. "Do ya like it?"

Puckering his lips as if he just tasted his first lemon, he shook his head. "No, it's awful."

Pretty light eyebrows narrowed over her pert nose, she took a step back and reached for her cloak. "Not all'a me tastes like a cig', shu'ga,"

Nimble fingers pulled at the pin holding her cloak over her shoulder, letting it drop at her feet. Simple sun kissed fingers began to massage the front of her blouse, squeezing her breasts, causing a low, soft intake of air to be sucked through the front of her teeth in an erotic and sensual way he had never, ever thought she would sound like in his most wildest dreams. His pristine Juliet was swaying her hips, side to side and rolling them in a way that made him dizzy with want.

This couldn't be his Juliet. She was a sweet modest girl who would die of embarrassment if she were seen acting this way.

"What's your father's first name?" He asked.

That brought her swaying to a sudden stop and left an uncertain look on her face. "John," she said.

He shook his head. "Who are you?" He found his voice when the sultry copy of his most precious person licked her lips and leaned the back of her long ankle length skirt to the back of the bed, falling onto the mattress. Fanning her hair behind her she lifted one leg just enough to let the skirt slip down past her knee.

"I'm whoe'er I need ta' be for you, shu'ga."

"Then you're not Jul…"

Talek had a mind to stalk out of the room, furious that this person was playing games with him was just trying to make a fool out of him, but he stopped short when he saw the next couple of buttons come undone from her blouse.

"Like what'cha see, darl'n?"

'Yeah I do.' He knew she was teasing him. Knew that this person wasn't really Juliet. Yet he couldn't take his eyes off the silky black lace bra that was now on display. Real or not this was what he'd been fantasizing about for three years.

One thin finger pushed through the bottom of the modest cup of her bra, enticing a narrow lidded look of provocative pleasure at her own touch.

When he had started holding his breath, he wasn't sure, but his brain went numb for a few seconds and he exhaled like a man who had been held under water for a minute.

"Please…stop it…"

"Oh? You dun sound ver'a convincin', luv." Juliet's voice was barely a whisper, a very inviting one at that. "You need ta come ov'r here'n say that a'gin."

Tentatively, Talek took his first steps towards 'her'.

"This is some kind of an illusion right?" He asked weakly.

She snorted again. "Nah, this is way better than some weak illusion." Reaching up she took hold of one of his hands and planted it firmly onto a breast. "Does that feel like an illusion, darl'n'?"

'Juliet' was right, it felt amazing. Even through her bra he could feel just how soft she was underneath, how very real she was. Without meaning to he gave a little squeeze.

The Juliet before him inhaled in feminine invitation.

Talek momentarily forgot that the girl in front of him wasn't the one he'd been chasing for three yes. "Wow…"

"Glad ya like."

Her playful words quickly brought him back to reality. This was not Juliet.

Jerking his hand away, Talek took a couple of steps back and pointed an accusing finger at 'her'. "Did you do something to Juliet? Tell me who you are right now or I'm leaving."

Sighing loudly in frustrated defeat, the blond curls and usually soft, sincere blue eyes of the girl he adored grinned mischievously. Bouncing a leg up in a manner a dancer or gymnast would have approved of, 'Juliet' pushed her skirt down, jumped off the bed, and dashed across the room quicker then he could have imagined, and embraced him soundly.

"Aw, and I was hopin' we could'a really gotten to know each other more fri'ndly like. Ya know? Sort'a in the biblical sense?" Her laugh was teasing and nothing at all like Juliet's soft giggles.

"Goodbye then."

He started to push her away, but was rather surprised by the strength of her grip.

"Why ya be'n such'a pansy? Did'n ya like what'cha felt? Who ah was, shu'gah?" She grinned cheekily at him, just a scant few inches from his face.

"You still smell like cigarettes," He made a point of wrinkling his nose. "So if you're going to say anything, how about telling me if Juliet is okay and why you're doing this?"

Growling in a very un-Juliet sort of way, she released him and patted his cheek roughly. "Ah, I woul'nt worry too much'a Juliet, Luv. That girl's bee'n handl'd jus fine."

Distrust and confusion pinched his brow. For the first time, he was beginning to believe his friend and partner might be in trouble.

Though the door and windows of the room were shut a sudden gust filled the air. It was enough to knock over a lamp and make 'Juliet's' hair dance and whip about. The look on the girl's face was one of surprise, but a huge grin quickly appeared.

"Don't play with me." Talek's tone was no longer friendly and, in fact, looked very serious. "Tell me what you did to Juliet."

In mock surrender, the girl threw her hands up, but not without a look of respect and mounting excitement.

"Oh, you'll go ta that, woul'ja? Hah! Ah knew ah hit the nail on da head wit you, darl'n." The girl grinned so wide her molars were showing and her cheeks bunched so high her pretty blue eyes closed.

The air in the enclosed room whipped about faster in response to his growing anger and frustration. He was far from violent by nature but if the girl he cared about was in danger…

"Fine, fine," Juliet rolled her eyes and her hands knuckled onto her slender hips. "Fer starter's, Shug-ah, yer Juliet's jus peachy. Las ah saw, her'n Brad were mak'n frien'ly-like I was try'n wit you in da back of da stairway near da fire exit. Right by da mana labs. Know da place?"

The minor gale withered and died away.

"So… she told him yes then." Talek murmured with finality to himself.

Juliet was gone.

The girl in front of him took a few tentative steps towards him. "It's not yer fault, Tik-tak."

'Did she call me Tik-tak? That's not my name. Why did she call me that? How did she know about the real Juliet?' He thought.

This was the first time he had heard the girl call him something other then 'shug'ah or darl'n', so she obviously knew who he was and had to be a fellow student… he didn't think she was anyone he knew. Though the accent stirred up some memories of someone, he couldn't match a face to it, especially when she sounded like Juliet…

Brad's Juliet. Not his, not any more.

It was weird hearing Juliet say she was sorry that another version of her was off making out with another man. The news did not set his mind at ease and he wanted whatever stupid game this was to end.

"Who are you? Tell me right now!" Talek widened his stance and crossed his arms.

Juliet seemed hesitant to reveal herself.

"Jus rememb'r, Tik-tak, Ah did this ta try'n cheer ya up and offer ya sumth'n. Keep'n open mind'n all, 'kay?"

"Oh God! You're a guy, aren't you?" Talek looked ready to wretch.

"Ass'ole! Ah'ma girl!" With an indignant snap of her fingers, Juliet… the almost nude and very willing Juliet melted away to be replaced by…

Thought Talek wouldn't call the woman in front of him nightmarishly ugly, she certainly didn't appear to try and fight the prospect of it.

Pierced through her nose, eyebrow, and sporting a lip spike, the girl was painted like some kind of witchdoctor prepared for a voodoo ceremony gone grunge and gothic mixed together. Black paint circled her eyes with tears falling from the corners like some kind of harlequin doll. Lipstick of waxy black arched upwards in a very wide, creepy smile. Dark black hair ran split into two wild pony tails that appeared to be an attempt at looking cute and childish with a weird twist to it all.

The ribbons were barb wire cinched with skull shoestrings.

Around her neck, razor wire…several strands of razor wire literally scratched and scrapped at the hallow of her zakesh wrapped throat.

Long frilly maroon and purple striped blouse that looked like something that belonged on a Halloween display adorned her top with sleeves that went well past her wrist to almost cover black nail polish finger tips. Around her waist several utility chains with belts clattered next to each other, holding up a bunched up short black skirt with some of the runniest black stockings he has ever seen. Large clunky black military boots adorned her feet with their laces untied.

Sadly enough, Talek recognized her instantly.

"No way…"

Behind that make up and metal and belts, she gave him her best smile while pulling out a pack of cigarettes from inside her sleeve. Tapping the pack to compact the tobacco, she was still grinning at him like some kind of female Mad Hatter gone death metal.

"Hi, Yah rem'mber me, Mary Hutchinson, don'tcha?"

"Wha…" he stared at her as if this was some sort of bizarre joke.

"Hi, Tik-tak…so, mind if I ask you a question?" She slipped a lighter from out of her other long sleeve and flicked it a few times.

"What the hell?" He yelled at her at the top of his voice, looking as horrified as if he'd just been caught spanking the monkey.

Yes he knew her.

There were only about five hundred students at the Academy so most everyone either knew or knew of everyone else. Bloody Mary. The goth chick. The Freak. The Black Widow. They had two classes together but he'd never spoken a word to one other. He knew her solely by her reputation.

And that was as horrid as her ensemble.

His reaction appeared to disappoint her though she did not look surprised. "Nice to see ya recognize me, Tik-tak."

He stared at her in a complete loss. She was, literally, the last person he would ever think to go to a hotel room with and grope.

"What the hell is this about?" He demanded with an indignant growl.

She licked her waxy lips while pulling out a stick of tobacco, lighting it up and taking a drag with smooth efficiency, she blew out the smoke as if it was a sigh of love.

"Now that the cat's outta the bag, how would ya like to have a Contract with me Tik Tak?"


End file.
